
^^^^Hl^^^^^* ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 



/OLIV: HANDBOOKS 
PRACTICAL GARDENING 

THE BOOK OF 

OLD'FASHIONED 
FLOWERS 




Book lAj^ 



HANDBOOKS OF PRACTICAL GARDENING— IV 
EDITED BY HARRY ROBERTS 



THE BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



THE BOOK OF OLD- 
FASHIONED FLOWERS 

AND OTHER PLANTS WHICH THRIVE 
IN THE OPEN-AIR OF ENGLAND 



HARRY ROBERTS 

AUTHOR OF "THE CHRONICLE OF A CORNISH (iARDEN 



WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS 
REPRODUCED FROM DRAWINGS BY 
ETHEL ROSKRUGE 



3 5 > J 3 
5 J 1 5 



3 3 '3' 3 33 3 3-'3 



JOHN LANE: THE BODLEY HEAD 
LONDON AND NEW YORK. MCMI 



J' 



TMrnbull ^ Spears^ Printers^ Edinburgh, 



TO HOMELY UNAFFKCTED PEOPLE WHO APPRECIATE 
HOMELY UNASSUMING FLOWERS 

' * The precious metals are noi often found at the surface of 
the earth." — Sir Arthur Helps 

" I speak ivith the lotvliest of the meadoiu foivers as readily 
as iv'ith the highest fir-trees — Heine 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Thanks . . . . . . . , xiii 

Scoi'E AND Limitations . . . . . . i 

Old-Fashioned Flowers . . . . . .4 

A Garden by the Sea . . . . . .12 

Cottage Gardens . . . . . .24 

The Garden in Winter ... . . 28 

The Garden in Spring .... -37 

Thr Garden in June . . . . . .48 

How TO GROW Roses . . . . . .32 

The Garden in July . . . "57 

Night in the Garden . . .... 62 

The Garden in August . . .... 69 

The Garden in Autumn . . . . -73 

Shelter and Sh^de . . . .81 

Soils and their Preparation . . . .86 

MANURts ....... 94 

Seed-Sowjng and Transplanting . . . .96 

Layers and Cuttings ...... loi 

Weeds ..... . . 103 

Insect and Other Pests . 107 

Points , . . . . . .111 

ix 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



An Old-Fashioned Garden 

Poppy Anemones 

Fritillaries 

Columbines 

Honestv 

Macartney Roses 
White Wood Lilies 
Foxgloves 
Shirley Poppies . 



Frontispiece 
page 
13 

29 
41 

53 
65 

75 ^ 
. 89 ' 
99 ^ 



xi 



THANKS 

To that distinguished and generous gardener, Canon 
Ellacombe, I wish to express my appreciation of his 
kindness in giving me the freedom of his collection of 
old garden books, though few are so good, interesting, 
or useful as his own Plant Lore of Shakspere" and 
A Gloucestershire Garden." 

To Mr Folkard I am obliged for the loan of his inter- 
esting book on Plant Lore and Legend." 

To the Editors of the Morning Leader^ Gardeners'* 
Chronicle and Gardeners* Magazine I am obliged for the 
right to republish such parts of the following book as 
have appeared in their several papers as essays from 
my pen. 

To Messrs Kelway, of Langport, I am indebted for 
many presents of beautiful Delphiniums, Paeonies and 
Pyrethrums, which they grow as few others can. 



xiii 



SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS 



Many years ago an ingenious writer compiled a book 
dealing with a subject with which he had no practical 
acquaintance. The whole of his alleged observa- 
tions were second-hand, being derived from previous 
writings on the subject. In order, however, to hood- 
wink the public, this author laid great stress on the 
uselessness of mere book knowledge, saying that an 
ounce of experience was worth a stone of theory. 

Like many other foolish sayings, this one has been 
regarded as an inspired utterance, and has been copied 
by nine-tenths of all subsequent writers of handbooks. 
As a matter of fact, whilst a certain amount of practical 
experience is absolutely essential to the proper under- 
standing of nearly all subjects, an intelligent reader can 
learn more in an hour from a sensible book than from 
many weeks of intercourse with merely practical" 
people, and many weeks of so-called experience. 

This little book, forming one of a series of hand- 
books with an aim purely practical, has itself an entirely 
practical object. This object is to teach those who are 
comparatively new to gardening the general principles 
which they must observe if they wish to grow success- 
fully those flowering plants which are able to live their 
whole lives in the open air of this country. By old- 
fashioned flowering plants are meant those which we 
may class with the herbaceous, bulbous and other hardy 
plants which one always expects to find in the old 
cottage gardens, old vicarage gardens and old farmhouse 
gardens of romance, and occasionally in those of reality. 
One is continually discovering fresh old-fashioned people, 
A ' 



2 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



and in like manner we are continually having additions 
made to our list of old-fashioned flowers. Many newly 
discovered or newly introduced plants, therefore, are 
treated of in this book, which is not intended merely as 
a ''Book of Old Flowers." Still, as a matter of fact, 
most of the flowers named in these pages are old favourites, 
and have long been grown and sentimentalised over by 
English gardeners and poets. 

No attempt has been made to render this a complete 
handbook of hardy flowers. In the first place, the pages 
at disposal would barely serve even to enumerate them, 
and, in the second place, the compilation of a reference 
encyclopaedia of hardy flowers has been done, and done 
admirably, by our greatest gardening writer, Mr William 
Robinson, whose book, *'The English Flower Garden," 
is in many ways the most important work on gardening 
which has appeared since the time of Parkinson. 

The flowers here named are but a few of those which 
are worth growing, for to the present writer nearly every 
plant, when allowed to develop freely and naturally, is 
full of interest and full of beauty. Everyone should 
decide for himself what he will grow in the particular 
environment he may have to offer, for, once the art 
of properly growing the flowers here named has been 
mastered, little diflSculty need be anticipated in growing 
such other hardy plants as may be thought desirable 
additions to the list. 

In the matter of garden arrangement, I have neither 
given dogmatic advice nor stated fixed rules which 
must be followed ; for it is as undesirable that gardens 
should be stereotyped copies of one another, as it would 
be in the case of their owners. I have, instead of dog- 
matising on the rights and wrongs of garden design, 
described one or two gardens which have yielded me 
delight, though I fear that I have not been able to 
conceal my own point of view. What that point of view 



SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS 



is I have stated in my Chronicle of a Cornish Garden," 
but I am sufficiently broad-minded to recognise that 
other styles of gardening appeal to other gardeners who 
are quite as competent to form opinions as myself. 

A garden should, as I believe, be an emanation from 
the spirit of its owner, and, just as some men are formal 
and some informal, some prim and some Bohemian, some 
careful and some rash, so should their several gardens 
vary in style and feeling. 

I have laid down no laws as to the arrangement of 
flowers with a view to producing colour schemes," 
for I have never seen colour schemes which surpass 
those chance effects of the hedgerow and the meadow, 
or of those pleasant gardens where the gardeners' sole 
aim is to grow plants from the plants' point of view, 
that is to say, with the sole aim of growing them 
healthily and well. Of course, occasionally, a bad colour 
shows itself, but the remedy is simple and obvious. 
Occasionally, also, a colour discord will be perceived 
in bed or border, but a spade will cure the trouble in 
five minutes. Indeed, there is some small risk at the 
present moment that the individuality of beautiful plants 
and flowers may be too frequently sacrificed to the 
production of effects." This was the deadly fault of 
the bedding" system, and should be guarded against. 
The bedding system has made such beautiful flowers 
as geraniums, calceolarias and lobelias stink in the 
nostrils of some of us; just as the disgusting invention 
of Dr. Gregory has been successful in making raspberry 
jam a source of nausea to tens of thousands of English 
boys and girls. 

Let us as gardeners beware of being too clever and 

artistic"; Nature may be a hard mistress, but she is 
not a fool. 



OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



Strictly, of course, the term is indefinite, for old- 
fashioned flowers and old-fashioned gardens mean to 
different people different things. Probably to most people 
— at all events to the present writer — old-fashioned 
gardening means that system which is in direct opposi- 
tion to prim geometric beds and to the imitation of 
carpet patterns by arrangement of flowers. By an old- 
fashioned garden, the present writer means an informal 
^'garden of all sorts of pleasant flowers which our 
English ayre will permit to be noursed up," as Parkin- 
son put it ; and by old-fashioned flowers he means 
sweet Williams and gilly flowers, mignonette, sweet 
peas, roses and honeysuckle, ''daffodils, fritillaries, 
jacinthes, saffron-flowers, lilies, flower-deluces, tulipas, 
anemones, French cowslips or bearseares, and such other 
flowers, very beautifull, delightfull and pleasant." After 
the severe, monotonous, formal arrangements which 
still too often constitute the gardens around our finest 
houses, how interesting and restful it is to stroll round 
a delightful garden such as Canon Ellacombe's ''Vicarage 
Garden" at Bitton, where the shape of the beds or 
borders is not prearranged, where all the soil is occupied, 
where every plant looks healthy and at home, where 
every yard brings one a surprise and a fresh interest, 
where the old walls have growing from their crevices 
such plants as the Cheddar Pink, Sedums and Semper- 
vivums ; where, too, every plant in its glory hides the 
decay of its predecessor in bloom and shelters the birth 
of its successor. 

4 



OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



There is a class — and a very large class — of folks 
who are so constituted that continual prize or applause 
hunting are essentials to happiness. For such, the 
topiary-victimised trees, the glaring carpet beds, and 
the flower show are useful and comparatively harmless 
instruments for the indulgence of their little weaknesses. 
But it goes sorely against the grain to give to such the 
honourable and historic title of gardener, just as one 
hesitates to describe as a gardener the issuer of that 
curious catalogue of greens" which Pope satirically 
described in No. 173 of The Guardian : — 

Adam and Eve in yew ; Adam a little shattered by 
the fall of the tree of knowledge in the great storm ; 
Eve and the serpent very flourishing. Noah's Ark in 
holly, the ribs a little damaged for want of water. 

The tower of Babel not yet finished. 

St George in Box ; his arm scarce strong enough, 
but will be in a condition to stick the dragon by next 
April. 

A green dragon of the same ; with a tail of ground- 
ivy for the present. 

N.B. — Those two are not to be sold separately. 

Edward the Black Prince in Cyprus . . . 

A Queen Elizabeth in Phyliirea, a little inclining to 
the green sickness, but of full growth. 

An old maid of honour in wormwood. 

A topping Ben Jonson in Laurel. 

Divers eminent modern poets in bays." 
As a matter of fact, what we understand as old- 
fashioned gardening has never been a fashion at all. 
When Addison wrote in The Spectator that he would 
^' rather look upon a tree in all its luxuriancy and 
diffusion of boughs and branches, than when it is cut 
and trimmed into a mathematical figure," and that he 
fancied that '*an orchard in flower looks infinitely more 
delightful than all the little labyrinths of the most 



6 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



finished parterre," he was declaiming against — not with 
— the fashion of his day. In truth there is no escape 
from the fact that in old times, as they are at present, 
real lovers of plants and of flowers for their own sakes 
were few indeed. In the time of Elizabeth and then- 
abouts, however, the gardening spirit seems to have 
been purer and more wholesome than during the suc- 
ceeding centuries. John Lyly, for instance, was, in 
sentiment at least, a genuine old-fashioned " gar- 
dener : — Heere be faire Roses, sweete Violets, 
fragrant Primroses, heere wil be Jilly-floures, Carna- 
tions, sops in wine, sweet Johns, and what may either 
please you for sight, or delight you with savour." At 
that time also was written what is perhaps the greatest 
or at any rate one of the most important pronouncements 
on gardening ever written — the essay*' Of Gardens," 
by Lord Bacon. Here, indeed, is the real touch, the 
genuine gardening spirit : I do hold it in the Royal 
Ordering of Gardens, there ought to be Gardens for all 
the Months in the year, in which, severally, things of 
Beauty may be then in season;" and again, '* because 
the Breath of Flowers is far Sweeter in the Air (where 
it comes and goes, like the warbling of Musick), than in 
the Hand, therefore nothing is more fit for that Delight, 
than to know what be the Flowers and Plants that do 
best perfume the Air. Roses, Damask and Red, are 
fast Flowers of their Smells, so that you may walk by a 
whole Row of them and find nothing of their sweet- 
ness ; yea, though it be in a morning Dew. Bays like- 
wise yield no smell as they grow, Rosemary little, nor 
Sweet-Marjoram. That, which above all others, yields 
the sweetest smell in the air, is the violet, especially 
the white double Violet, which comes twice a year, 
about the middle of April, and about Bartholomew-tide. 
Next to that is the Musk Rose, then the Strawberry 
Leaves dying with a most excellent Cordial Smell. Then 



OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



the Flower of the Vines ; it is a little Dust, like the Dust 
of a Bent, which grows upon the cluster at the first 
coming forth. Then Sweet-Briar, then Wall-Flowers, 
which are very delightful to be set under a Parlour, or 
lower Chamber Window. Then Pinks, especially the 
Matted Pink, and Clove Gilly - Flower. Then the 
Flowers of the Lime-Tree. Then the Honey-Suckles, 
so they be somewhat afar ofF. . . . But those which 
perfume the Air most delightfully, not passed by as the 
rest, but being Trodden upon and Crushed, are three : 
that is Burnet, Wild-Time, and Water-Mints. There- 
fore you are to set whole Alleys of them, to have the 
Pleasure when you walk or tread." The essence of 

old-fashioned " gardening is here expressed. 

Our modern florists" are wont to sneer at the lack 
of variety possessed by the old gardeners, but they must 
be curiously unfamiliar with the writings of such men as 
Gerard, Gilbert and Parkinson. To give but one or two 
examples, the last named writer, in his Paradisi in Sole 
Paradisus Terrestris,^ gives a descriptive list of twelve 
distinct varieties of Fritillaries, eight varieties of Grape- 
Hyacinths, and no less than twenty -one varieties of 
Primroses and Cowslips, whilst of Lilies and of Roses 
the kinds described are even more numerous. 

The greatest joy which a garden can yield is a feeling 
of restfulness and peace, a feeling which no garden of 
staring beds and ostentatious splendour can afford, but 
which is yielded — as by nothing else in the world — by 
a garden of happy, homely, old-fashioned flowers. 

To most people, and more particularly to most women, 
one of the chief uses or functions of a garden is to pro- 
vide flowers to be cut for the decoration of rooms. But 
I hold that a flower cut from its plant and placed in a 
vase is as a scalp on the walls of a wigwam — a trophy 
showing how one more beautiful plant has been defeated 
and victimised by its powerful and tasteless owner. 



8 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 

The cut flower is no longer part of a manifestation of 
the will of nature ; rather it is a slave — beautiful, it may 
be, but branded and soul-destroyed. 

Regarded as decoration, I consider cut flowers in a 
house much as fashion now looks on shell ornaments, or 
picture-frames made of acorns, as things inappropriate 
and childish. Of course, in a town there is some excuse 
for them, for even cut flowers carry the mind to beautiful 
associated conditions ; but cut flowers in the country 
seem ludicrously like lumber, just as bedsteads and 
toilet-services and cruet-stands placed in a garden would 
be lumber too. 

The love of cut flowers is really but another mani- 
festation of the spirit which hankers after *'yews carved 
into dragons, pagodas, marmosets," and the other tree- 
monsters scoffed at by Rousseau, who added that he 
was convinced that the time is at hand, when we shall 
no longer have in gardens anything that is found in the 
country ; we shall tolerate neither plants nor shrubs ; 
we shall only like porcelain flowers, baboons, arbour- 
work, sand of all colours, and fine vases full of 
nothing." 

Indeed, there is in many quarters even now a grow- 
ing desire for the kind of new garden," which old 
William Lawson advocated : Your Gardiner can frame 
your lesser wood to the shape of men armed in the field, 
ready to give battell : or swift running Greyhounds : or 
of well sented and true running Hounds, to chase the 
Deere, or hunt the Hare. This kinde of hunting shall 
not waste your corne, nor much your coyne. Mazes 
well framed a man's height, may perhaps make your 
friend wander in gathering of berries, till he cannot 
recover himselfe without your helpe." 

Of course, the cutting of flowers is a long way from 
this ; still it is difficult to see where a line can be drawn 
once the worship of ''gardeners' gardens" has begun. 



OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



Through the open windows of house or cottage the 
eyes should be able to feast on the beauty of freely 
growing flowers quite as easily as if they were cut and 
stuck in glass or porcelain vase like so many heads of 
traitors on the city gates. 

It has been said that all children are born scientists, 
but that only a small number of them ever pass on to 
the condition of artists ; and it has always seemed to me 
that there is much truth in the statement. Children are 
ever putting the eternal why ?" to the great confusion 
of their parents, pastors, and masters ; and it is the 
curious, the gigantic, the rare, which always calls forth 
their attention and admiration. Struwelpeter is more to 
a child than all the beauties of a Charles Robinson, and 
to few men or women is it given to derive as much 
pleasure from beauty as from that which is usually called 

interesting." Hence, thj ordinary criticisms of gar- 
dens ; hence, also, the usual aims of gardeners. So 
many people desire the gaudy, or the unique, or the 
curious, that we are apt to look upon gardens merely as 
appliances for the production of quaint or monstrous 
flowers. 

The analysis of beauty has ever a dissecting-room-feel 
about it ; still, as he who would become a skilful 
surgeon must be first a practical anatomist, and as he 
who would be a painter must first study his materials 
and the dodges " of his craft, so must the would-be 
artist in gardening dissect the beauty of perfect gardens, 
and study such apparently dull materials as earth and 
manure, and practical garden books. 

I have said that the beauty of an old-fashioned garden 
is due largely to the feeling of repose and settled-down- 
ness which it yields. Every plant looks as though it 

belongs" (as we say in Cornwall) to be where it is, 
as though it always was there, and as though there is no 
intention of shifting it in a week or two to some glass- 



lo BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 

house, store-room, or other site. The plants in most 
gardens look as though they have merely come to pay 
an afternoon call, dressed exactly a la mode^ speaking 
always *'cumeelfo" — like the people of Troy Town, 
and elsewhere — giving one the certain knowledge that 
they will only say the right thing, look the right thing, 
and leave at the right time, unregretted and unmissed. 
The comfortably-at-home " effect is produced mainly 
by three causes — firstly, the presence of abundant 
deciduous trees and shrubs, giving infinitely varied 
effects of light and shade ; secondly, the arrangement 
of the plants in bold groups of single species ; and, 
thirdly, the provision of each separate plant with depth 
of suitable soil, and space to develop its individual form. 
There is plenty of background, and not too much 
episode. 

Country people often think that the way to enjoy 
London is to spend day and night in one continuous 
round of sight" seeing. In like manner, people often 
have an idea that the perfect garden is a continuous 
sheet of wonderful flowers. How great is the fallacy 
contained in this idea it should be needless to point out. 
Leaf and stem, light and shade and fragrance, these are 
quite as essential parts of a garden as are the blooms" 
of the gardening showman. 

An eye for beauty is largely a product of training 
and experience. A soul and a brain there must be as a 
basis, but "taste" is to a large extent cultivated. One 
must have read much before one is able to appreciate 
the style of a Ruskin or a Pater, a Maeterlinck or a 
Le Gallienne ; one must have studied many pictures 
before being able to realise the beauty of the works of 
the great artists ; and in like manner one must needs 
have loved and watched plants long and steadfastly 
before the beauty of winter twig and summer leaf comes 
home to him. 



OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS ii 

Many a man with a garden looks upon winter as a 
season to be got through as soon as possible, as a season 
when nothing short of necessity shall drag him into the 
garden. I am sure that even in the very heart of 
December, one should find in the garden more of real 
beauty than ninety-nine gardens out of a hundred contain 
in June. I recall in particular one little heather path 
bordered by large bushes of blue-grey Lavender and 
green-grey Rosemary, in the bays being great Mullein 
plants and clumps of Pink and Alyssum. Ferns, Peri- 
winkles, Holly, Satinleaf, Hellebores, Winter Aconites 
and Barberries are but a few of the plants which help to 
make this walk bright and pleasant even in the depths 
of winter ; but most important of all in the Christmas 
display are the Furzes, single and double, than which, 
according to Mr Alfred Russell Wallace, the tropics can 
produce nothing more brilliant or more beautiful. 

Continuous beauty all the year through, rather than 
a continuous display of flowers, is a goal at which gar- 
deners might wisely aim, for not only is the result far 
more restful and suggestive of reserved force and be- 
coming modesty, but also the individual plants are far 
more likely to have a fair chance of development at the 
hands of one who appreciates beautiful leaves and 
healthy growth, than when cultivated by one who looks 
at plants merely as flower-making machines. 



A GARDEN BY THE SEA 



It is fortunate that we are not all provided with equally 
favourable sites and soils. How monotonous would 
gardening become if one knew that he had but to act, 
deed for deed, as his neighbour in order to attain exactly 
the same garden result. We should feel disposed to 
throw down our spades and trowels if the end of our 
efforts might be foreseen by looking over our neighbour's 
boundary. If the difficulties to be overcome could be 
formally catalogued, the whole art of gardening would 
be reduced to a wooden system in which there would 
be little room for surprise or pleasure. But Fate has 
decreed that our gardens shall differ in spite of the 
apish copying spirit which still fills so many of our 
breasts. Our sites vary, our soils vary, and our atmos- 
pheric conditions vary to such an extent that any 
gardener, if he is to produce a result of any worth, 
must perforce use his native intelligence in order to 
overcome the specific difficulties peculiar to his plot 
of earth. 

Gardening readers will remember Dean Hole's story 
of the enthusiastic flower-loving navvy who, obtaining 
the post of gatekeeper on the railway, was provided 
with nothing but a barren gravel pit as apology for a 
garden. Twelve months afterwards," says the Dean, 

I came near the place again — was it a mirage which I 
saw on the sandy desert ? There were vegetables, 
fruit-bushes and fruit-trees, all in vigorous health ; there 
were flowers, and the flower-queen in her beauty, 
'Why, Will,' I exclaimed, 'what have you done to 

12 




POPPY ANEMONES 



A GARDEN BY THE SEA 15 



the gravel -bed?' * Lor' bless yer,' he replied, grin- 
ning, * I hadn't been here a fortnight afore I swopped 
it for a pond ! ' He had, as a further explanation in- 
formed me, and after an agreement with a neighbouring 
farmer, removed with pick and barrow his sandy stratum 
to the depth of three feet, wheeled it to the banks of an 
old pond, or rather to the margin of a cavity where a 
pond once was, but which had been gradually filled up 
with leaves and silt ; and this rich productive mould he 
had brought home a distance of two hundred yards, 
replacing it with the gravel, and levelling as per con- 
tract." 

That man's garden was a real living creation : it was 
indeed a great work." And it is in everything true 
that great natural possessions, though they may render life 
more comfortable and possibly more apparently success- 
ful, yet make the battle the tamer and less interesting. 
Indeed the greater the odds to be overcome, the more 
magnificent will every victory appear, and the gardener 
who creates a flowery Eden out of a piece of bare and 
starving desert has scored a greater success than his who 
but grows beautiful flowers and delicious fruits where 
soil and site and surroundings have been entirely on his 
side. 

I am writing in a garden which is as remarkable an 
example of difficulties overcome as was the garden of 
Dean Hole's navvy. Those who are familiar with the 
sand-dunes or towans which form so pronounced a 
feature of much of the northern coast-line of Cornwall, 
will realize that these scarcely afford ideal spots for 
easily made gardens. A thin coating of poor grass, 
reeds, wild thyme and occasional sea-hollies form the 
only drapery for the blown sand which makes up the 
whole body of soil. 

Yet it was on such a spot that a friend of mine pitched 
his camp, or rather built his cottage, and set to work to 



i6 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



create a garden. His aim in life being to kill care, he 
desired nothing more eagerly than to be constantly 
occupied. For three years he spent fully one half of 
his days in bringing into his territory leafmould and 
soil, clay and manure. He soon had a good protective 
screen of pines, euonynus, privet and hazel, and only 
then did he seriously begin to plant his garden. He 
had, during those three years, raised crops of clover, 
trifolium and the like, digging them again into the newly 
created soil from whence they came. 

He read all the gardening books on which he could 
lay hands, he saw all the gardens within walking dis- 
tance, and he studied the wants of every flower before 
he sowed or planted it, just as though it were an 
honoured guest whom he were inviting. He had no 
rule-and-compass scheme before his eyes, and planted 
his shrubs and flowers in those situations where they 
might most healthily yield their beauty and their frag- 
rance. Such paths as his garden has are merely gravelled 
developments of the beaten tracks which usage indicated as 
necessary or convenient ; and I am afraid that they would 
meet with the disapproval of that great authority, Mr 
Reginald Bloomfield, who has said that a garden should 
be laid out in an equal number of rectangular plots where 
everything is straightforward and logical." 

My friend is nearly twenty years older than when he 
began to create his garden, and it has already acquired 
much of the character of an old house to which successive 
additions have been made. The year through, the earth 
is draped and decorated with beautiful plants. Aconites, 
Snowdrops, Crocuses, Primroses, Violets, Fritillaries, 
Columbines, Pinks, Roses, Lilies, Sunflowers and all the 
host of old-fashioned flowers. 

The great problems of architectural " gardening, 
'landscape " gardening, and the rest, did not interest him. 
So simple and unpretentious was his little house that an 



A GARDEN BY THE SEA 



attempt at terraces, clipped evergreens, and the like, 
would have struck a jarring note at once. Therefore, 
it is quite in keeping that beautiful flowers and beautiful 
shrubs border one's way right up to the entrance door ; 
nor does Nature end there, for over all the outer walls 
are trained lovely and fragrant climbers — Clematis, Rose, 
and Honeysuckle — which give the idea that the cottage 
does indeed nestle " in the garden. 

Through the open windows also, at almost any time 
of the year, pours the delicious scent of leaf and flower 
— of Winter Sweet, Violets, or Sweet Peas ; of Stocks, 
or Mignonette ; of Wallflowers, or Roses. Just to name 
a few of the plants whose scent fill the rooms, what 
glories are thereby called up : — Honeysuckle and Jasmine, 
Lily of the Valley, Lilac and Narcissus, Carnation, 
Syringa and Heliotrope, Thyme, Bergamot, and Aloysia ! 
These, and a hundred other fragrances mingled together 
in infinitely varying combinations, give sensuous joys 
which even the most jaded can but appreciate. For 
there is probably no pleasure so democratic as that which 
is yielded by the fragrance of flowers and leaves. The 
colour and form of plants require a little attention for 
their appreciation, but their odour overwhelms our senses 
whether we attend or no. The variety of perfumes 
yielded by plants is almost as great as their forms, for 
blossom of Apple and of Jonquil, leaf of Strawberry, 
Currant and Sweet Gale gives each an aesthetic pleasure 
peculiar to itself. 

In Elizabethan times, a royal visit seems to have been 
preceded by a process of sweeting the house, which 
consisted in filling the rooms with scent of crushed 
leaves and flowers, scattering also extracts and essences 
of fragrant plants. This sweeting of the rooms is a 
continuous process through the open windows of the 
cottage, and no queenly visit would induce any aug- 
mentation of it. 



B 



1 8 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



Through the trees, which now have grown to 
moderate size, may always be seen the most beautiful 
setting which a beautiful garden can have — the ever 
restless sea. The contrast is good and effective, and 
is calculated to prevent any undue development of 
horticultural vanity. 

I thought of Ruskin's statement that "the path of a 
good woman is indeed strewn with flowers, but they 
rise behind her steps, not before them," when one day I 
sat on a quaint old seat under a pear tree in this little 
flowerful garden ; for it is literally behind his steps, 
not before them, that all the beauty of my friend's garden 
has sprung up. Each beautiful leaf and stem and flower 
are products of his labour and care almost as much as 
of sun and rain. Yet to a stranger the garden shows 
no sign of human fingers, human muscles, or human 
interference. 

To many, possibly to most, there is attractiveness in a 
garden of well-kept, straight-bordered paths, of tidy beds 
symmetrical beyond reproach, of plants arranged like 
soldiers under review ; but to me such gardens — how- 
ever pleasant to look at — seem unsuited to repose and 
impossible to sit and dream in. 

This garden is very different. It has no trees cut to 
the shape of peacocks or wind-mills, no hideous collec- 
tion of stakes and raffia, which goes by the name of 

the carnation bed" (after the manner of Thackeray's 
^Mibrary where the boots are kept"). It is merely a 
bit of enclosed and humanised natural beauty, a place 
where one may quietly enjoy delightful flowers and 
delightful fragrance without the jarring condition of 
viewing behind the scenes all the time that the per- 
formance is being enacted. Every flower in the garden 
was originally planted by my friend, and has been 
regularly watched over and tended by him ever since, 
yet not one but looks as though it had been planted 



A GARDEN BY THE SEA 19 

at the creation of the world and had been subject 
only to the forces of Nature all its life. There is a 
suggestion of woodland, a suggestion of hedgerow, a 
suggestion of hillside, yet, of course, the garden differs 
from them all. It is the absence of bare earth — for 
scarcely one inch of soil lies undraped by plants — which 
partly gives the garden that feeling of settled-down-ness. 
A half-dressed person, a half-papered wall, a half- 
filled bookcase, a half-finished house — all these things 
hinder the feeling of repose. So it is that nearly all 
gardens, looking, as they do, to be in a state of prepara- 
tion and incompleteness, make restfulness out of the 
question. But in this garden repose seems the natural 
emotion, and to sit there beneath a tree and read or chat 
is always the appropriate thing. 

It is not, however, that the earth is all draped which 
alone causes the feeling of rest. This is due very largely 
to the fact that the garden is not a show-garden," 
was not created for show, but for the satisfaction of its 
creator. 

The comfortable feel " of the garden is largely 
assisted also by the nature of the flowers and plants 
which he has elected to cultivate : Gilly-flowers, Pinks 
and Purple Columbines, Sweet Carnations, Daffodils 
and loved Lilies. To quote Korumushi, a poet of 
the race which has the spirit of flower- worship in its 
heart — 

No man so callous, luit he heaves a sigh 

When o'er his head the withered Cherry-flowers 

Come fluttering down." 

And no man is so devoid of feeling as to be unmoved 
by the sight of the flowers associated with the ideals 
of the race — the flowers which Chaucer loved, and 
Shakspere. 

I have seen a beautiful garden, containing none but 
flowers mentioned by Shakspere. This, however, was 



20 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



after all but a piece of pretty pedantry, and necessi- 
tated the absence of Foxgloves, Forget-me-Nots, 
Snowdrops, and other beautiful flowers. It is indeed 
strange that he, the greatest poet of gardens as of other 
things, never mentions these flowers, although they must 
have been well known to him. Speaking of the Snow- 
drop, Gerard, who was a contemporary of Shakspere, 
said: ''These plants doe grow wilde in Italy, and the 
parts adjacent, notwithstanding our London gardens have 
taken possession of most of them many years past." 
This rather indicates that the Snowdrop then held a 
very different place in the gardener's heart, from the 
place which it since has won ; and doubtless the same 
holds good of the other flowers which Shakspere left 
unmentioned. If Shakspere were writing now, using 
the names of flowers as he used them — '' not to show 
his own knowledge," but because the particular flowers 
supplied the appropriate simile or key to sentiment — he 
could scarcely fail to mention the Foxgloves or Lady's 
Fingers, the sweet Forget-Me-Nots, and, more beautiful 
still, the chaste, unflinching Snowdrops. A flower takes 
time — generations even, it may be — really to eat its way 
into the heart of man ; for it is not enough that it be 
merely beautiful or merely fragrant — attractive to our 
senses though these properties are — in order that we 
may really become incorporate with a flower. But it 
must, in addition, be full of association, and have been 
long watched and lovingly studied. There is one book, 
difficult now to obtain, containing a record of the truest 
appreciation and most careful study of flowers, and of 
the beauty of flowers, which we have in the language. 
That book is called Flowers and Gardens," by Dr 
Forbes Watson, and the following passage from its 
pages beautifully explains the sentiment of the gardener 
who grows mainly old-fashioned flowers, or, at any rate, 
flowers with which he has been long familiar — 



A GARDEN BY THE SEA 21 

We make the acquaintance of any individual exist- 
ence under an immense number of different aspects, and 
it is the sum of all these aspects which constitutes that 
existence to us. A Snowdrop, for instance, is not to me 
merely such a figure as a painter might give me by copy- 
ing the flower when placed so that its loveliness shall be 
best apparent, but a curious mental combination or selec- 
tion from the figures which the flower may present when 
placed in every possible position, and in every aspect 
which it has worn from birth to grave, and coloured by 
all the associations which have chanced to cling around 
it. To the bodily eye which beholds it for the first time 
it might be of no consequence what lay within the petals, 
though even then the imagination would be whispering 
some solution of the secret ; but to the eye of mind, 
when the flower has been often seen, that hidden green 
and yellow which is necessary to complete the harmony 
becomes distinctly visible — visible, that is, in that strange, 
indefinite way in which all things, however apparently 
incompatible, seem present and blended together when 
the imaginative faculty is at work. The common Star 
of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum) is a good illus- 
tration of the working of this principle. When I look 
at the beautiful silver-white of the inner surface of the 
petals, my mind is always dwelling upon and rejoicing 
in the fact that their outer side is green, though of 
that green outside I cannot see a hair's breadth. Again, 
we find the same principle at work in the feeling which 
compelled the old sculptors to finish the hidden side of 
the statue. They said, * For the gods are everywhere.' " 
There are people of whom we say (indeed, it is pos- 
sibly true of everyone) — a has the cynics — that the more 
intimately we know them, and the longer we know them, 
the more we see to Jove and admire. So it is with a 
really beautiful plant, and for this reason they who would 
obtain all the possible pleasure and beauty from their 



22 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



gardens should become, not gardeners only, but also 
botanists and students of poetry and of beautiful form. 

In spite of Shakspere's omission, then, I advise every- 
one to grow many species of Snowdrops ; indeed, for a 
week or two in February, my friend's sea-side garden 
seems to be all draped with their green leaves and serene 
green-white drops," yet not one podgy, graceless double 
flower is there among them all. For he agrees with 
Forbes Watson that the doubling " of beautiful flowers 
generally results in deformity and the destruction of all 
beauty and meaning. Double Roses, Pinks, and Carna- 
tions, he grows of course ; for their fragrance, their 
history, and, in the case of Roses, their continuous bloom 
compensate to some extent for the loss of character in 
the petals, and for the pen-wiper" appearance which 
has only too often been given to the individual flowers. 

To return to the Shakspere garden, one finds that 
Shakspere's floral year practically began with the 
DafFodil. 

" When Daffodils begin to peer, 
With heigh ! the doxy o'er the dale, 
Why, then comes in the sweet o' the year," 

The yellow Crocus seems to have been introduced 
into English gardens whilst Shakspere was writing his 
plays, and there was then, alas, no Gardeners^ Chronicle 
to bring him the news. Gerard describes it as having 

flowers of a most perfect shining yellow colour, seeming 
afar off to be a hot glowing coal of fire. That pleasant 
plant was sent unto me from Robinus, of Paris, that 
painful and most curious searcher of simples." What 
pictures are summoned before our minds' eyes even by 
the few words just quoted: pleasant plant;" sent 
unto me from Robinus of Paris;" that painful and 
most curious searcher of simples." Each phrase shows 
a type of mind or a view of life. 



A GARDEN BY THE SEA 



The garden of my friend is a pleasant " garden, and 
he, too, is a curious searcher " of beautiful and pleasant 
plants. That is why his garden seems to be an old- 
fashioned garden, and not because it is at all like Shak- 
spere's garden, or Mary Arden's garden, or the hideous 
Elizabethan gardens pictured in the Hortus Floridus," 
published in 1614. His, though not by any means a 
Tottenham Court Road product, is no Wardour Street 
garden, but is old-fashioned in the sense that some of 
Heal's bedsteads are old-fashioned, or that beautiful 
English prose is old-fashioned as contrasted with the 
English of the yellow press. 

He would not be without his Snowdrops, and quite 
as emphatically would he not be without his Crocuses. 
Great clumps everywhere, among the shrubs, at roots of 
trees and by the path-sides, radiate light and beauty 
like so many fairyland flashes. First come the violet 
cups of Crocus imperati, often before January has 
passed ; then the brilliant array of yellow Crocus luteus 
(overwhelming the Snowdrops, by then well past 
their chief beauty and chief interest), followed by 
Crocuses of every shade of purple, lavender, and white. 
These, like the Snowdrops, are left quite undisturbed 
year after year, and if there be some little falling off in 
the size of the flowers, which is doubtful, there is more 
than compensation in the added beauty which the result- 
ing gradation of colour and natural grouping yield. 
"When I think of these glories, I can but reflect on how 
much beauty that academic *^ Shakspere-garden " goes 
lacking. Indeed, we shall all do well to steer clear 
of formulas and rigidity, as well in our lives as in our 
garden-beds. 



COTTAGE GARDENS 



The term ''cottage garden" is an elastic one, and may 
be made to include all that big class of gardens where, 
in the words of the flower-show schedule, *'no regular 
gardener is employed." But I think that most people, 
when they think of cottage gardens, picture to them- 
selves those little wayside plots attached to the homes 
of working folks which cheer the passer-by nearly as 
much as they cheer their owners. One thinks of Rose 
and Clematis climbing over the doorway, of Sweet- 
Williams, Pgeonies, Hollyhocks, Sunflowers and Pansies 
flowering in bed or border. Old-fashioned herbaceous 
plants are those which one associates with these cottage 
gardens, and nearly the year through one expects to 
find something of interest and of beauty. 

Such is the ideal ; sometimes such is the reahty. 

In some of our rural districts, where the local squire is 
of the resident benevolent feudal school, the cottages are 
surrounded by little paradises of flowery beauty. Those 
who have travelled through the Porlock Estate of the 
Acland family will know what I mean. In many places, 
however, little pride or interest is taken in gardening, 
and the yards fronting the cottages are dull and dismal 
from January to Christmas. Indeed, there are few 
districts where pretty cottage gardens are the rule. 

Yet it were as easy to create a lovely picture within an 
area of twenty square yards as in the space of a palace 
garden, though possibly not so imposing or valuable an 
one. The size of the canvas is a detail ; the other 
limitations are, however, more important. In a little 
24 



COTTAGE GARDENS 



plot we must often do without those lovely backgrounds 
of tree and shrub and those lovely foregrounds of grass 
or other dwarf herbage which are such helps in creating 
great garden pictures. It is at a sonnet that we small 
gardeners must aim and not at an epic or great narrative 
poem. Yet I often feel that brevity is of the very 
essence of fine poetry, and it is possible that limitation 
of space may be contributory to the finest expression of 
gardening. At all events, it affords a greater test of 
one's skill and taste as a gardening craftsman, for, whereas, 
in a big place, trees, shrubs and lawn almost create a 
beautiful garden of themselves, in a little garden we 
have to practise more selection and more rejection, and 
to exercise greater judgment and care in arrangement, 
since here every detail counts and every fault jars. 

The cottage gardener has usually to employ the 
simplest flowers wherewith to express himself, but it 
is probable that this limitation is helpful rather than a 
source of increased difficulty. He may say, in the spirit 
of Lewis Carroll : — 

I never loved a dear gazelle, 

Nor anything that cost me much : 

High prices profit those that sell, 
But why should I be fond of such? 

And these old common plants thrive as well and flower 
as beautifully in the garden of the shepherd as in the 
grounds of Windsor Castle. The wind blows from the 
same quarter, the rain falls equally, and the frost is as 
severe in the one as in the other. 

I like each garden to contain some one feature of 
special and unique interest — some well-grown plant 
which is not much cultivated in the neighbourhood, 
or some brilliant floral pageant peculiar to the particular 
garden. Thus, one garden which I know is always 
associated in my mind with a little thicket, about ten 
feet in height, of the White-stemmed Bramble (Rubus 



26 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



hifiorus)^ which, on a moon-lit evening, is a most im- 
pressive sight, and even in winter is very beautiful. In 
another little garden I always look for its show of 
beautiful Pansies, of which its owner — a fisherman — 
is very naturally and rightly proud. Of course, a 
special feature of this kind need not interfere with 
the perennial interest which every garden, even the 
smallest, should possess. For instance, in the garden 
with the Nepal Bramble (which, by the way, is sur- 
prisingly little known when one recalls the fact that 
it was introduced many a hundred years ago) are 
Poppies and Roses, White Musk-Mallows and Colum- 
bines, Canterbury Bells and Michaelmas Daisies ; and 
my friend of the Pansies has the earliest Crocuses and 
Snowdrops in his village, and relies on a hedge of 
Chrysanthemums and Rosemary to brighten his plot 
when the Pansies are over. 

If our suburban villas were fronted by unpretentious 
plots cultivated frankly as cottage gardens and bordered 
by simple palings, how very different would be their 
aspect, and how much more pleasant would a suburban 
walk become. For there are numerous plants of great 
beauty which would thrive even in the suburbs of 
London, given care and a little knowledge as to the 
correct preparation of the soil. 

In the country, very much may be done by those 
who care to do so. Country squires, doctors, parsons 
and others who have money, or time, or influence can 
very materially alter the appearance of their district by 
encouraging the gardening spirit among working folks, 
by helping with advice if they are themselves gardeners, 
by helping with surplus plants, seeds and cuttings, and 
by organising competitions and offering prizes for the 
best kept cottage gardens. 

Small gardens are the largest which are at the disposal 
of most of us, but we need not bemoan our fate on that 



COTTAGE GARDENS 



account. Fully as great pleasure may be extracted from a 
tiny plot as from broad acres, and a few plants well grown 
are as productive of satisfaction as is the largest collec- 
tion. **It was a singular experience that long acquaintance 
which I cultivated with beans," said Thoreau, but 
I was determined to know beans." That is the true 
gardening spirit, and with that as a possession one may 
pluck as much joy from the cultivation and study of 
Thistles or Brambles, or even Docks (as Canon Ella- 
combe reports a friend as growing — his acquaintances, 
of course, laughing at him for making a Dock-yard), as 
from the rarest Orchids of the millionaire. 

One of the greatest gifts of a perfect garden is the 
gift of solitude, and that is generally beyond the power 
of the little cottage plot to offer ; but, as a source of 
infinite pleasure to its owner, as a source of pleasure to 
all those who pass by, as a cheering feature of English 
landscape, and as a great force tending towards content- 
ment and peace, the cottage garden is beyond price. 



THE GARDEN IN WINTER 



When the last of the Michaelmas daisies and of the 
out-door chrysanthemums have cast their blooms, many 
gardeners are apt to think that the interest and beauty 
of the garden are over, and that for three months there 
is nothing to be done but to dig and enrich the soil, and 
to wait patiently for the onset of spring. This is a 
narrow and an ill-informed view, for, though through 
the months of winter we cannot hope to see many or 
gaudy flowers, we may yet have our gardens bright 
and interesting with evergrey and evergreen shrubs and 
herbs, with the delightfully-coloured barks of willows, 
dog-woods and other trees, and, not less interesting, 
with the often beautiful stems of the last season's 
growth of herbaceous plants, usually sacrificed to the 
tidying spirit of those who would tidy the floor of 
heaven itself. Moreover, even in winter, flowers of no 
mean rank may be had in the open borders of English 
gardens. 

The Christmas and Lenten Roses or Hellebores alone 
can be so used as to make a border interesting during 
the whole of the winter months, for not only do they 
all possess handsome foliage, but their flowers also are 
very beautiful and varied in colour. They are easy of 
culture, liking a deep, fairly stiff and rich, though well- 
drained, soil, and thriving best in dense shade, under 
trees or on the north side of a hedge or wall. The 
Hellebores are impatient of disturbance and meddlesome- 
ness. The flowers, coming as they do in the rainy 
season, should be saved from being soiled with splashes 
28 




FRITILLARIES 



THE GARDEN IN WINTER 



31 



of mud by having moss placed on the earth beneath 
them. Of the many species and varieties, the old 
Christmas Rose (i/. niger) is by far the most valuable. 
Its large white flowers, appearing at the end of the year, 
when most flowers have succumbed to numbing cold or 
blighting winds, stir the imagination in the same way 
as does a beautiful face in the Bow Street dock or a 
butterfly in a foundry. The so-called Helleborus niger 
maximus^ or altifolius, has larger flowers, which, 
moreover, appear earlier than those of H. niger ^ but the 
colour is not so pure, many of the flowers being tinged 
with pink. The crimson H. abchasicus^ and H, colchiciis 
with flowers of darkest purple, as well as some of the 
hybrids derived from them, should be grown in every 
garden. The green and inconspicuous flowered varieties, 
such as H.foetidus, H. lividus, which came from Corsica 
about the beginning of the eighteenth century, and H. 
viridus, are well worth growing for their foliage, and 
indeed for their flowers also, if there be any shady moist 
corner where few plants will thrive. 

A plant somewhat related to the Hellebores, though 
smaller in every way, is the pretty little Winter 
Aconite {Eranthis hyemalis), which brightens the ground 
early in January with its yellow cups resting on the 
daintiest of green rufl^es. It looks its best when it has 
become well established and naturalised in grass, or 
among trees and shrubs. Long after the flower has 
fallen, the beautiful foliage continues to drape and deco- 
rate the earth during the early months of the year. In 
warm, sheltered situations, two species of Scilla often 
produce their flowers in January : — Scilla bifolia, which 
sends up spikes of dark blue bells, the spikes being 
about eight inches in height, and the much smaller and 
somewhat later S, siberica, with flowers of peculiarly 
intense blue. Some of the anemones often begin to 
flower in winter, especially the Blue Wind-flower of 



32 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



Greece {A, blanda), and in warm situations the old A. 
coronaria itself. In any case the foliage of anemones, 
and beautiful foliage it is, is one of the ornaments of the 
hardy winter garden. Some of the species of crocus, 
also, belong to the section of winter bloomers, notably 
the mauve C. imperati, and the pale lilac C, pulchellus. In 
sheltered shady spots, where it can enjoy well-drained 
leafy soil undisturbed, the round-leaved Cyclamen 
(C. coum) and its white-flowered variety (C. hyemale) 
produce abundance of welcome little flowers often quite 
early in January. Those who fear the assaults of evil 
spirits should remember a couplet quoted in Folkard's 
Plant Lore, Legends and Lyrics" : — 

St John's Wort and fresh Cyclamen she in her chamber kept, 
From the power of evil angels to guard him while he slept." 

Its potency as a drug was so thoroughly believed that 
Gerard fenced round all his cyclamens, and also laid 
sticks over them crosswise lest any unfortunate indi- 
vidual might tread on the corms, and so bring about the 
direst results. 

In wild waste spots, or under trees where few things 
will thrive, the fragrant Winter Coltsfoot is well worth 
growing. It spreads at a terrible pace, and must there- 
fore not be introduced into the mixed borders. The 
common primrose and its garden varieties, as well as 
many other species of primula, are of the utmost value 
in the winter garden, both for their foliage and for their 
flowers, which in some cases begin to appear soon after 
Christmas. One of the very earliest is the purple 
Caucasian Primrose {P. amoena), which bears its umbel 
of flowers often in the very depth of winter. All the 
primroses like shelter, partial shade, deep moderately- 
rich soil, and peace and quietness." 

But of all the flowers of winter, the most beautiful is 
the fragrant Iris reticulata* No description can convey 



THE GARDEN IN WINTER 



a tithe of its effect. Two grass-green sheaths drape the 
lower part of the flower-stalk, the sheath on the convex 
side becoming at its margin so thin and transparent as to 
seem to melt into the stem itself. The flower-stalk up to 
this point is of a curious green colour veined with purple, 
but gradually, as the flower is reared, the purple in- 
creases so as to colour the whole surface of the stem ; 
and, indeed, at the root of the petals the stem becomes 
almost black. Nor is the flower itself unworthy so 
dainty a support, for the colouring and form are ex- 
quisite. The falls, which are coloured on the outside 
a dull purple with centrally some green spotting, turn at 
about one quarter way from their extremities suddenly 
outwards almost at a right angle, thus forming horizontal 
landing-places. The inside of the fall is of a rich light 
violet colour, running up the centre from the claw's 
root being a white patch with yellow and dark purple 
markings, terminating at the horizontal blade in glowing 
orange. The effect is slightly reminiscent of that pro- 
duced by a leopard's skin. The standards are bright 
violet with relief of yellow pollen just below the centre, 
above which are little stigmatic ledges which brush 
pollen from entering insects. The flower stalk is 
definitely arched as though the flower were too heavy 
for its strength, but near the flower itself the stalk 
becomes erect, thus giving the whole an appearance of 
health and vigour. The early Irises are not difficult to 
grow in moderately light and well drained soil, but they 
should usually be afforded a warm and sheltered site. 
Other fragrant species which bloom in winter or very 
early spring are the soft blue Iris stylosa, of which there 
is an equally beautiful white variety, and the purple and 
rose Iris histrio, somewhat resembling Iris reticulata in 
habit and colouring. 

The flowers which usher out the winter and announce 
the near approach of the spring, the winter gilliflowers or 

C 



34 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



snowdrops, have long been among the treasures of English 
gardens. Naturalised in grassy lawns or orchards, or 
grown undisturbed in shrubbery borders, the single and 
double common snowdrops (G. nivalis) almost invariably 
thrive and increase. The common snowdrop is on the 
whole the most important and most valuable, but in 
light warm soil the handsome Galanthus Elwesi should be 
grown, and in any soil the broad-leaved G. latifolius, and 
a fragrant hybrid derived from it, G. Alleni, with large 
flowers and leaves almost like those of the tulip. 

Several of the periwinkles, notably the lilac Vinca 
acutiloba^ bear flowers during the months of December 
and January, and in warm sheltered spots violets and 
roses may often be picked in the open air. 

Among the shrubs, several of the most beautiful 
bear their flowers in the depth of winter. The fragrant 
yellowish flowers of the Winter Sweet (Chimonanthus 
fragrans), which is one of the many gracious gifts of 
Japan, are among the best of winter blossoms. The 
Chimonanthus is worth a place against a warm wall 
facing south. After flowering, the young shoots should 
be pruned back to the old branches. The variety known 
as Grandiflora bears somewhat larger flowers. The 
scarlet flowers of Cydonia japonica (the Japan Quince), 
are familiar to everyone although it is but a nineteenth 
century introduction into this country. Other species 
and varieties of Quince, however, are equally well 
worth growing. C Mauleii, with orange-red flowers 
freely produced seemingly over the entire plant, C 
nivalis, with large white flowers, and C cardinalis are 
all good. 

When the climate is mild, and the soil not too heavy, 
the Laurustinus {Viburnum tinus) is of great value in 
winter and early spring. The yellow Jasmine and 
the shrubby Honeysuckles, Lonicera fragrantissima and 
Standishi, are easy to grow, and should be seen in 



THE GARDEN IN WINTER 



every open-air winter garden, as also should the old 
Daphne Mezereon, single and double, the double Furze 
(XJlex Europaeus jlore pleno), and the evergreen Garrya 
ellipt'wa with its hardier variety Thuretiu The Garrya 
is hardy enough in many gardens, but in exposed or 
cold situations profits by being afforded the shelter of a 
wall or other screen. Many other winter flowering shrubs 
and flowers might be named, but I must refer readers to 
the list of winter bloomers which forms an appendix to 
my Chronicle of a Cornish Garden." 

Great, however, as is the importance of growing as 
many as possible of the plants which bear flowers through 
the months of winter, the value of evergreen and ever- 
grey foliage must not be overlooked. Among the latter 
may be named Lavender, Rosemary, Pinks, Carnations, 
Mulleins, Alyssum, Lavender Cotton, Stachys chrysantha, 
Achillea umbellata, Achillea moschata, Silene maritima, 
Hieraceum villosum, H. gymnocephalus, Cistus (of sorts), 
Artemisia lanata, Agrostemma, Senecio leucophyllus, 
Teucrum aureum, Cerastium tomentosum, Arabis varie- 
gata, Gypsophilum repens, Festuca glauca, Sedum 
Turkestanicum, Olearia insignis, Agrostemma coronaria, 
Onopordon arabicum. To give a list of useful ever- 
green plants would require much more space than I have 
to spare, but the following names may possibly be of 
some help. Of evergreen trees and shrubs. Yew, 
Hollies, Box, Tree Ivies, Pernettyas, Ruscus racemosus, 
the silver-edged Euonymus radicans variegatus, Berberis 
aquifolium, Aucuba Japonica (and other kinds), Kalmia 
latifolia, Rhododendrons, Ericas, Sand Myrtles, Dwarf 
Partridge Berries, Andromedas, Skimmias, Olearia 
Haasti and Phillyrea Vilmoriana, are among the most 
useful and interesting. The number of valuable ever- 
green border plants is almost infinite; the following 
list includes some of the best : — 



36 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



Saxifrages, kinds numerous. Omphalodes, of sorts. 

Sedums, do. Aubrietia. 

Sempervivums, do. Arabis. 

Gentiana acaulis. Vinca. 

Gentiana verna. Violas and Violets. 

Primulas, kinds numerous. Iberis. 

Helleborus, do. Sternbergia. 

Dwarf phloxes. Megaseas. 

Forget-me-nots. Aquilegias. 

Thymus, of sorts. Asarum, of sorts. 

Acanthus. Wallflowers. 

Iris, kinds numerous. Cyclamen, of sorts, 
especially valuable being 
I. foetidissima with brill- 
iantly red seeds. 

Evergreen ferns should be grown in gardens much 

more than they usually are. The following are a few of 
the hardiest kinds : — 

Asplenium augustifulium. Lastrea corusca. 

Asplenium ebenum. Lastrea fragrans. 

Aspidium Floridanum. Lomaria alpina. 

Camptosorus rhizophyllus. Niphobolus lingua. 

Dictogramma Japonica. Polystichum acrostichoides. 

Lastrea marginalis. Polystichum setosum. 

Lastrea Standishi. Phygopteris alpestris. 

Lastrea aristata. Woodsia alpina. 

The British species of Asplenium, Blechnum, Ceterach, 
Polypodium, Polystichum and Scolopendrium are often 
useful and always available. 



THE GARDEN IN SPRING 



The dividing line between the seasons is, of course, 
quite arbitrary, for Nature progresses evenly, gradually, 
unceasingly, and not in the jerky way which our clumsy 
divisions of time imply. StiJl it is convenient, almost 
necessary indeed, to adopt some such broad classifica- 
tion of the periods of the year as that into the four seasons 
which has done duty for so many centuries. One may 
take the flowering of the snowdrop to indicate the onset 
of spring, though itself belonging more especially to 
winter. Yet the Dutch Crocus seems to be the earliest 
real spring flower, and a brighter little herald of the 
glories to follow could not be selected. The parents of 
most of the Dutch Crocuses are two species which grow 
wild in South-Eastern Europe, C. aureus and C vernus. 
The latter is sometimes considered to be a native British 
plant, but in all instances of its discovery in English 
hedges or meadows its presence is most likely due to 
removals of garden soil or garden rubbish. 

There are nearly seventy distinct species of Crocus 
known to botanists, and most of these are well worth 
growing, though more bloom in the autumn than in the 
spring. Even in the seventeenth century, Parkinson 
described as many as thirty-one kinds, but probably 
some of these were merely garden varieties. 

Crocus imperati^ found wild near Naples, is one of 
the earliest species to flower as it is also one of the 
most beautiful, the inside of the petals being coloured 
a deep purple, whilst the outside is of a lightish brown, 
the stigma standing as a brilliant orange lamp in the 
centre of the flower's cup. 

37 



38 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



The Crocuses will grow and prosper in almost any 
good soil, especially if it rest on chalk or other porous 
subsoil. The commoner kinds may advantageously, 
especially in soils not too heavy and wet, be left in the 
ground undisturbed for many years, and there are few 
floral sights more beautiful than that afforded by a 
skilful grouping of yellow crocuses naturalised in grass 
either under deciduous trees or in the open. The very 
early species should be grown in a warm and sheltered 
position, where the winds and frosts of January will not 
be able to destroy their beauty. Almost as valuable as 
the crocus, and even more easy to grow, are several of 
the species of scilla, a bulb long cultivated in English 
gardens. Two of the species, which are especially worth 
growing on account of their beauty and extreme earliness, 
are the dark-blue S, bifolia {vj'ixh. its varieties, /r^ri?;v and 
taurka) and iS. sibirica, with its intense, vivid blue 
colour, as of some gem resting on the dark green leaves. 
Later, larger and sturdier, though scarcely so valuable, 
are the well known light blue Spanish Scilla, S. 
campanulata, and the numerous varieties of our beautiful 
wild bluebell, S. nutans, Scillas, like crocuses, should 
be planted in bold natural groups among other plants, 
or naturalised in woodland glades or shady lawns and 
meadows. Somewhat resembling the Scillas, though 
even more beautiful, are the recently introduced 
Chionodoxas (C Luciliae, C, Sardensis, and C, grandiflora), 
which exhibit every shade of purest blue, mingled in 
varying proportions with white. In light soils they 
increase very rapidly both by division of bulbs and by 
seed. 

A stately flower, which formerly held a much more 
respected place in the garden than it now occupies, is 
the Crown Imperial (^Fritillaria imperiaUs), In rich, deep, 
garden soil, or in a rich shrubbery border, it usually 
thrives ; and when well established is an interesting and 



THE GARDEN IN SPRING 



showy plant, growing upwards of four feet to the top 
of its flower stalk in April or May. There are varieties 
displaying various combinations of red, yellow and 
orange. Parkinson placed it before all other Lilies," 
and Chapman referred to it as Emperor of Flowers." 
Valuable as it is, one is not disposed to place it on quite 
such a pinnacle to-day. Most of the other Fritillaries 
are dwarf bulbous plants, which thrive in rich, light 
soil, preferably in the partial shade of deciduous trees. 
The commoner kinds are very suitable for naturalisation 
in grass or woodland. Most of the Fritillaries produce 
sombre-coloured, curiously-chequered, snaky-looking, 
pendulous flowers. 

Even in the seventeenth century Parkinson describes 
twelve varieties, but since his day numerous species 
have been discovered. Among those best for growing 
are F, Meleagris and its varieties ; h\ Moggridgei, an 
Alpine species, with yellow bells beautifully marked 
with brown and red on their inner surface ; F. aurea, 
and the brilliant, though somewhat tender, F, reciirva. 
The Fritillary was so called because of its chess-board- 
like markings, and for the same reason Gerard spoke of 
it as the Ginnie-hen flower. 

The Grape-Hyacinths, or Muscari, do not seem to 
have developed in popularity, as their beauty in colour- 
ing and hardiness would have led one to expect. In 
rich, deep, sandy soil, in the rock garden or border, 
these bulbs thrive and multiply. Parkinson enumerated 
eight varieties, which he called **The Ash-Coloured 
Musk Grape Flower, the Red Musk Grape Flower, the 
White Musk Grape Flower, The Dark-blue Grape 
Flower, the Sky-coloured Grape Flower, the Branched 
Grape Flower, the White Grape Flower, and the Blush 
Grape Flower." The varieties which are most worthy 
of garden cultivation are M, racemosum, with its fruit- 
scented purple flowers and long drooping leaves ; M. 



40 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



hotyroides ; M. armeniacum, which blooms later than most | 
other kinds ; and M. moschatutn, with little fragrant 
yellow bells. The allied Feather Hyacinth, M. comosum 
monstrosum^ is equally well worth growing for the beauty 
of its feathery lilac blooms. 

The Snowflakes, or Leucojums, are again becoming 
popular and better known. They have not the charac- 
teristic grace of the Snowdrop, the stems being sturdier, 
the arch being quite different in character, and the petals 
being all of the same length ; but they have much beauty 
of their own and are easy to grow. Most of the Alliums 
are interesting, and should be planted where there is 
space at disposal, as also should Tritelia, or Milla, uniflora. 

But more important than most of these are the various 
Anemones, both the *'fair and frail" wild species which 
is found in our own woods nemorosa) and the numerous 
kinds — all beautiful — which have been introduced into 
our gardens from Southern Europe. The old Poppy 
Anemone {A, coronaria) is a favourite with everyone, 
blooming as it often does during all the early months 
of the year. It is easy to raise from seed sown in light 
soil in the open during March, April or May. The 
seedlings should be pricked out in September, and that 
is also the month for planting the roots, should that 
method of obtaining plants be adopted. In warm soils 
A. coronaria lives on from year to year if left undis- 
turbed, but in other soils it is sometimes necessary to 
raise fresh plants annually. The Scarlet Anemone (^A. 
fulgens) is the most brilliant flower of early spring, whilst 
A, Apennina, A, hlanda (two species with flowers of the 
loveliest sky-blue). A, sylvestris (the Snowdrop Wind- 
flower), and A. ranunculoides (a charming yellow-flowering 
kind), are all beautiful and hardy plants in most garden 
soils. 

Anemones are not bulbous plants, but their tubers are 
usually listed in the florists' catalogues with bulbs, and 




COLUMBINF.S 



THE GARDEN IN SPRING 



in many ways this is a convenient arrangement ; but of 
all bulbous plants those which have most attracted the 
attention of florists and hybridists are undoubtedly the 
Tulip and the Daffodil. The Daffodil has won the heart 
of the poet as well as of the florist, and English verse is 
full of references to the darling Daffodils " (as Marvell 
called them) and **faire Narcissus." Keats named these 
graceful flowers as an example of those things of beauty 
which are joys for ever, and Shelley, whose garden of 
the Sensitive Plant contained many beautiful flowers, 
referred to the Narcissus as ''the fairest among them 
all." 

Perdita's description of Daffodils, 

"That came before the swallow dares, and take 
The winds of March with beauty," 

is familiar to all who read their Shakespeare. The daf- 
fodil is indeed an old-fashioned flower, for dry specimens 
of Narcissus Tazetta have been found in Egyptian 
mummy cases dating back nearly four thousand years. 
Mr Burbidge thinks that many species of Narcissus 
were introduced into England by the Phoenicians when 
they came to Cornwall for tin, ''and, as Cornwall has 
a climate and soil eminently suited to daffodils, these 
have been there perpetuated." Daffodils will grow in 
almost any garden soil, but in many gardens, especially 
in very rich soils or in soils which are badly drained, 
they tend to disappear in the course of one or two 
seasons. A little shade from the heat of the sun is 
desirable, as also is a little shelter from cold winds. 
Stiff loam of moderate richness is suitable for most 
varieties of daffodil, and the bulbs should be planted 
by the end of August. After being planted they should 
in suitable soils be left undisturbed for from two to six 
years ; and when lifted they should be placed to ripen 
in a shady place, and replanted in the course of a month. 
The bulbs should be planted from four to six inches 



44 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



apart, and from four to six inches deep, according to the 
size of the bulb and the lightness of the soil. Where 
all the varieties are beautiful it seems hopeless to select. 
To a beginner, perhaps, the following list may be of some 
help : — Poeticus-ornatus, Obvallaris, Emperor, Leedsii 
Minnie-Hulme, Empress, Golden Spur and Grandee ; to 
which should be added the sweet Campernelle Jonquil. 

For naturalising in grass, the poet's and star narcissi, 
as well as some of the trumpet daffodils, are particularly 
suited. 

In the whole history of the craft, few things have 
occurred so calculated to throw ridicule on gardening 
and gardeners as the celebrated outbreak of Tulipomania 
in the seventeenth century, though at times the con- 
temporary Daffodilmania threatens to rival it. The 
Tulip was introduced into England towards the end 
of the sixteenth century, and but half a century later 
Parkinson describes a hundred and forty varieties. Apart 
from the various species which the florist has not as yet 
seriously taken in hand, the bulk of the tulips commonly 
grown in gardens are of two great classes, the short 
stalked April-flowering tulips which are descended from 
T. suavolens, and the taller May flowering descendants 
of T, Gesneriana which are known as Florist's Tulips." 
These garden varieties are of every shade of colour and 
do well in any rich well-drained garden soil. It is 
advisable to lift them every year, or in light soils every 
three years, as otherwise they tend to become crowded 
and poor. The bulbs should be planted in October, 
about four inches deep and four inches apart, and, like 
all other bulbs, if grown for decorative effect, should 
have the earth between them carpeted with some dwarf 
surface-rooting plants as elsewhere suggested. Far 
better for ordinary garden decoration than any of the 
florists' striped or feathered varieties is the parent of the 
race, the brilliant red or crimson Gesner's tuHp. Its 



THE GARDEN IN SPRING 45 

effectiveness is much increased by the great dark brown 
blotch at the bottom of its cup, and this is even more 
marked in the variety spathulata. Many of the self- 
coloured Darwin tulips are also delightful and vigorous 
growers. The early dwarf species, 7". Greigi, with its 
brilliant red flowers and quaintly marked leaves, is well 
worth cultivating either in small groups or bold masses, 
as also is the native species, T. Sy/vestris, with pale yellow 
flowers of great beauty. Among other species and 
varieties specially worthy of a place in the garden are 
T, Elegans, T. retroflexa, T. australis, the dwarf T. 
kolpakoivskyana, T. viridiflora, Jl clusiana (introduced 
early in the seventeenth century), J", vitellina, and the 
kinds known as Golden Eagle, Picotee, and Bouton d'Or. 
To modify the observation of a writer of the seventeenth 
century, **The tulip is a queenly flower, and asketh a 
rich soil and the hand of a lover." And indeed given 
these conditions tulips may be easily and successfully 
grown. 

The bulbs already named are but a few of those 
worth growing for effects of beauty in the spring gar- 
den, for a complete enumeration would occupy many 
times the amount of space at disposal. There is, how- 
ever, one other bulbous plant which should be included 
in any collection of spring flowers, the Erythronium or 
Dog's Tooth Violet. The beautiful European species, 
E. dens'canis, has been grown in England for nearly 
three hundred years, and, in light soil and an open sunny 
site, produces its rose coloured flowers with freedom. 
The more recently introduced American species are 
equally worth growing. Spring is the great season for 
the flowering of bulbous plants for the very obvious 
reason that only plants with an accumulated store of 
last season's solar energy can produce flowers so early 
in the year. For like reason it is that the thick-rooted 
primroses and other species of primula are such early 



46 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



bloomers. The hybrid primroses (mostly descendants 
of P. acaulis and P. altaica) often produce their variously 
coloured flowers long before the native P, vulgaris 
begins to bloom. The primroses rejoice in moderately 
rich soil and partial shade. It is well to divide and 
replant every two or three years — especially in the case 
of the pretty P. rosea. In July it is a good plan to top- 
dress them with a fine and well rotted mixture of 
manure, leaf mould and loam. Most of the primroses 
are easily raised from seed, sown as soon as ripe in 
light soil kept shaded and slightly moist. The old 
double primroses cannot of course be raised from seed, 
and are by no means so vigorous as the single kinds. 
They require partial shade, and are somewhat intolerant 
of frequent interference. 

Oxlips, Cowslips and Polyanthuses are all beautiful 
and easily grown. Among other species of Primula 
which are easily grown and worth growing are P. 
denticulata, with long stems surmounted by large mauve 
flower heads, P. cL Cashmeriana, similar to denticulata but 
with yellow centres to the flowers, P. cortusoides, with 
beautiful rose-coloured flowers, and the many varieties 
of the handsome P.japonica, which specially likes moisture 
and shade. 

Given a well-drained, yet not too dry, situation, 
the various Alpine Auriculas are not difficult to 
grow, and include varieties with many beautiful 
colours. 

The charming Hepatica Angidosa and H, tribola, in its 
many kinds, are lovers of shade, leaf-mould, moisture 
and non-interference. Of the Gentians, the two species 
best worth cultivating are the little G. verna and the old 
Gentianella (G. acaulis), both bearing flowers of the purest 
blue. They are not plants which thrive everywhere, 
but they like well-drained soil, an open situation, and 
moisture in summer. The Gentian of Pliny was pro- 



THE GARDEN IN SPRING 



bably the medicinal G. liitea, which is not very valuable 
for garden decoration. 

Candytuft, Violets, Doronicums, Aubrietia, Alyssum, 
Adonis vernalis, Double Daisies, Thrifts, Lilies of the 
Valley, Wallflowers, Dog's-tooth Violets, Asphodels, 
Trilliums, Dodecathons, Veronica prostrata, Saponaria 
ocymoides, Lithospermum prostratum and some of the 
species of Troilius are but a few of the very many 
beautiful spring flowers which may be grown in the 
open borders of English gardens. 

To give the names of trees, shrubs and climbing 
plants which flower in spring is unnecessary, for every- 
one must be well acquainted with the blossoms of Apple, 
Pear, Plum and Cherry, of Hawthorn, Wistaria, Guelder 
Rose, Syringa, Lilac and Laburnum. There are, how- 
ever, a few good shrubs which are not grown nearly as 
much as they should be. Those who can afford warm 
and sheltered sites should certainly try to grow the 
magnificent Magnolias, especially M. conspicua and M. 
stellata ; and everyone may grow Forsythia suspensa, with 
long sprays of yellow flowers in April and May, Spiraea 
Thimhergiiy the leaves of which turn a crimson in 
autumn, as also do the leaves of S» prunifolia, which 
is covered with white double - daisy - like flowers in 
spring, and Exochorda grandiflora (The Pearl Bush), 
which likes plenty of sun and hates being cramped 
or cut. 



THE GARDEN IN JUNE 



The flowering of the Columbine is the beginning of 
summer. Tulips and Double Narcissi and stray 
Anemones may still afford bright colour or sweet 
fragrance, but they do not charm us any longer, for 
they are of the spring, and the spring is past. What a 
beautiful old flower it is — the Columbine commendable," 
as Skelton called it four hundred years ago ! Indeed, 
all the old garden writers mention it, its vigour and grace 
having always earned it a secure place in the English 
garden, where it has been grown for centuries for the 
delight both of its form and colours." The Columbines 
of our ancestors were all varieties of the wild English 
species {Aquilegia vulgaris), and so vigorous and hand- 
some do some of these plants become under garden 
cultivation, that it is questionable if any of the newer 
kinds surpass them in beauty. However, the various 
species of Aquilegia which have from time to time been 
added to our garden flora are to be counted with the 
most valuable of plants, among the best of them being 
the very curiously coloured red and orange species known 
as A. Skwneri, the tall golden A. chrysantha, and, perhaps 
most beautiful of all, the Rocky Mountain Columbine, 
A. coerulea, with its quaint green horns of honey." 

This is the month when the Pyrethrums and Paeonies, 
of which such splendid varieties have been raised by 
Messrs. Kelway and others, are in their glory, as also 
are the Snapdragons, Bride Gladioli, Pansies, Ranun- 
culuses (of which the old R, asiaticus, though somewhat 
tender, may be easily grown in rich light soil if planted 
48 



THE GARDEN IN JUNE 



in February at a depth of two inches and kept well 
watered during the growing period), Madonna Lilies 
(which must be planted in good garden soil and left 
alone), Liliutn elega?is, and L, longiflorum, with its 
beautiful varieties (which like well-drained spongy 
soil containing plenty of leaf-mould). 

If asked what was the typical garden flower of June, 
I suppose that nearly everyone would name the Rose. 
As a matter of fact, however, the great bulk of the 
Roses now grown in gardens — that is the members of 
the two great classes known to gardeners as Hybrid 
Perpetuals and Tea-Roses — are not seen at their best 
before July. But it is in June that the Wild Dog Roses 
of our English hedgerows are in their glory, as also are 
most of the Briars imported from other countries, 
together with the old Provence and other Summer 
Roses." And, with the possible exception of some of 
the Teas, it may well be doubted if any roses surpass in 
beauty such unimproved " species as the deliciously 
fragrant Macartney Rose (i?. bracteata)^ the trailing Rosa 
Wichuriana with its pure white cups, or the sweet Eglan- 
tine. Speaking of the Eglantine, one is reminded of the 
lovely hybrids derived from it, known as the Penzance 
Briars, which combine the fragrant foliage of the Sweet- 
briar with various beautiful blossoms according to parent- 
age. Perhaps the most beautiful of all of them is the 
variety known as Lady Penzance — descended from the 
Austrian Copper Briar and the Eglantine — which has 
single flowers of the most delicate blend of pink, yellow 
and orange. One great advantage which these single- 
flowered briars, as well as most of the June-flowering 
roses, have over the Hybrid Perpetuals is that they may 
be left practically unpruned, and so display the naturally 
graceful habit which is as important a part of the beauty 
of the Rose as is the flower itself. 

Of all the flowers of June, I should myself crown the 

D 



50 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



Pink (or Pentecost flower — for such is said to be the 
source of its name) for its fragrance, the Spanish Iris 
for the beauty of its flowers, and the Rose for its grace. 
The Flower-de-luce, or Iris, is of nearly a hundred 
species and of many hundred varieties, among which 
are some of the most beautiful flowers which can be 
grown in the open air of England. Many of the irises, 
however, require the expenditure of much knowledge 
and skill that they may prosper, but the so-called Spanish 
Irises, which are among the most wonderfully formed 
and coloured of all, may be grown by anyone who can 
grow ordinary hardy plants. They rejoice in sun, 
shelter and a light, well-drained soil. 

The Iris is well named^ for nearly every shade given 
by the rainbow is represented in one or other of its kinds, 
though there is none of the gaudy glaringness, commonly 
— though wrongly — attributed to that phenomenon. 
Spenser appreciated the unique quality of the beauty 
of the Iris, altough he had not met with many of the 
splendid kinds which everyone may now grow. 

" Strow mee the grounde with Daffadown-Diilies, 
And Cowslip!?, and Kingcups, and loved Lillies : 
'i'he Pretty Pawnee 
And the Chevisaunce 
Shall match with the fayre Floure Delice." 

June is a great month for old-fashioned flowers — the 
flowers of sentiment, as time and literature have made 
them — gold-dusted Snapdragon," Sweet William 
with his homely cottage smell," Woodbine hanging 
bonnilie," Foxglove cluster dappled bells," Paeony, 
Lilac, Laburnum and ''fresh Hawthorne," each full 
of tender associations, and each very beautiful in 
itself. 

In June a spirit of indolence begins to come over the 
gardener who grows his flowers in the open air. All 
through the months of spring, the garden contains — 



THE GARDEN IN JUNE 



51 



or should contain — numerous objects of beauty and 
numerous objects of interest, but not until June does 
the garden become swamped by a great sea of beauty, 
in the presence of which the modest gardener can but 
stand aside and gaze with wonder and enjoyment. 



HOW TO GROW ROSES 



Roses are lovers of pure air and are therefore difficult 
to grow in large cities, though even there beautiful 
specimens are occasionally to be seen. They require 
the shelter of a high hedge on the north side, and also 
dwarfer shrubby screens at a little distance on the 
east, south and west in order to break the force of 
winds from those quarters. Yet these screens must not 
be sufficient to shade the plants, for roses are great 
sun lovers. 

Like other hardy plants, they rejoice in deep, rich, 
well-drained soil containing plenty of humus derived 
from the decomposition of stable or farm-yard manure. 
Most of the hybrid perpetuals do best in a rather heavy 
soil, though sandy loams are often to be preferred for 
the culture of Tea roses. 

Purchase roses grown on the briar stock or on their 
own roots, and insist on the plants having plenty of 
fibrous roots. 

Order from a reliable florist early in October, request- 
ing that the roses may reach you early in November. 
The ground having been trenched and manured some 
weeks previously, the roses should be carefully planted 
immediately on their arrival. For each rose should be 
dug a hole about a foot square, and of such a depth that 
the planted rose shall have the junction of its stock and 
scion about two inches below the surface of the soil. In 
this hole the plant should be placed, and its roots (which 
may with advantage be dipped into a pail of water just 
before being planted) carefully spread out and covered 
52 




HONESTY 



HOW TO GROW ROSES 



with a few inches of fine soil. This should be firmly 
trodden in and the hole then filled with the ordinary 
soil. If the weather be dry, yet not frosty, it is well to 
settle the soil above the roots by means of a heavy 
watering. If the roses are to form a bed, they may, 
if dwarfs, be planted at an average distance of about 
eighteen inches apart. 

But a bed of roses, beautiful as it is, is but one ex- 
pression of the culture of these precious flowers. Over 
walls, trellises, arches and arbours they should be allowed 
to trail and climb at will, showing the graceful curves 
of briar stem, as well as the beautiful flowers themselves. 
Many roses, too, can be used to form hedges either 
alone, in the case of such varieties as the Ayrshires and 
Evergreens, Rosa Brunonii, the Crimson Rambler, the 
Scotch Briars and some of the Penzance Sweet Briars, 
or with other shrubs in the case of more leggy and 
straggling kinds. 

In the April of each year, cut out all weak sappy 
growths, and, in the case of hybrid perpetuals, cut back 
to about eight inches from the surface of the ground 
the strong shoots which remain. Teas, if required for 
garden decoration, need only be thinned out, any dead 
wood being removed at the same time, and similar 
treatment is applicable to most of the summer roses. 

It is difficult to select a few varieties as specially 
worthy of cultivation where so many are excellent. 
The old Provence, Gallic and Moss Roses bloom only 
in June and July, but are well worth growing for their 
fragrance, beauty and associations, as are also such 
summer bloomers as that vigorous hybrid China known 
as Blairii No. 2, and the very floriferous white Madame 
Plantier. The hybrid sweet briars, notably Lady Pen- 
zance and Anne of Geierstein, are of the easiest culture, 
but a warm sheltered situation is required by the beauti- 
ful Austrian copper briar, which is not everyone's rose. 



56 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



Easiest of all roses to grow are the Climbing Ever- 
green and Ayrshire varieties, of which Bennett's Seedling 
bears white flowers, most of the other kinds producing 
flowers of sundry shades of pink. The Japanese roses 
(i?. Rugosa) are almost equally vigorous and rampant, 
and are specially valuable for their scarlet fruits which 
help to brighten the garden in late autumn. 

But, after all, it is the so-called perpetual bloomers 
on which most gardeners will place the highest value, 
and here the choice of good varieties is very great. 
There are seven principal classes of perpetual or 
autumnal roses, known respectively as Hybrid Per- 
petuals. Teas, Hybrid Teas, China Roses, Bourbons, 
Noisettes and Hybrid Moss Roses. From these classes, 
if I were asked to select eight varieties for a beginner 
to learn on," I should name Madame Berard (Tea), 
Marie van Houtte (Tea), Blanche Moreau (Moss), 
Celine Forestier (Noisette), Souvenir de la Malmaison 
(Bourbon), Ducher (China), Prince Camille de Rohan 
(Hybrid Perpetual) and Viscountess Folkestone (Hybrid 
Tea). 

A few more names of good roses are these — Among 
Hybrid Perpetuals : Fisher Holmes, Ulrich Brunner and 
Mrs John Laing ; among Hybrid Teas : Mrs W. J. 
Grant, Bardou Job, La France and Kaiserin Aug. 
Victoria ; among Teas : Marechal Niel, Hon. Edith 
GiflTord, Niphetos, Madame Lambard, Belle Lyonnaise, 
Madame Hoste, Madame Falcot and Souvenir de S. A. 
Prince ; and, among Noisettes : William Allen Richard- 
son, Aimee Vibert, Madame Alfred Carriere and I'Ideal. 
To mention Gloire de Dijon is, of course, superfluous, 
though I am inclined to regard its general utility as 
somewhat overrated. 



THE GARDEN IN JULY 



A FLOWER with a history, with a name long honoured, 
full of that blue blood which a genealogical tree is 
supposed to imply, the Carnation needs no apology or 
recommendation. It was among the most admired of 
the flowers used by the Greeks and Romans in the 
making of chaplets, and hence derived its name of 
Coronation by which Spenser and other early writers 
knew it. Its generic name, Dianthus, or Flower of 
Jupiter, equally points to the high honour in which it 
was held by the Latins. It was formerly much used 
both medicinally, wonderfully above measure com- 
forting the heart," and for the flavouring of liquors — 
whence it obtained its name of Sops-in-wine : — 

" And many a Clove Giiofre, 
To put in ale. 
Whether it be moist or stale." 

The beautiful form of the flowers of the various species 
of Dianthus — Pinks, Carnations and Sweet Williams — 
partly accounts for its distinguished position, but the 
characteristic fragrance has been even more contributory 
to its reputation. The old name of July-flower, gilli- 
flower, or gylofre was but a corruption of caryophyllus 
— the nut-leaved clove tree — which name it earned by its 
delicious spicy scent. Much more regard was paid to 
fragrance by the old gardeners and flower-lovers than 
seems to be the case to-day, and it is very much to be re- 
gretted that many of the most beautiful of the newer 
varieties of carnation are nearly scentless, or as nearly 

57 



58 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



scentless as any member of the family can be. In ordinary 
good garden soil most of the carnations can be easily grown. 
It is a good plan thoroughly to prepare and enrich the 
ground in August, and to raise on it a crop of mustard, 
digging in the latter a month later, at which time the 
Carnations should be planted. Two varieties which I 
would recommend to a beginner are the pure white 
clove variety, Gloire de Nancy, and the old Crimson 
Clove. It should be borne in mind that carnations do 
not thrive in the shade, and that they will not tolerate 
the presence of rank manure. They are, however, 
among the plants which can be grown in the muggy 
atmosphere of cities. 

Blue is the only colour which is not to be found 
among the carnations, and indeed it is a colour not very 
common in the garden flora. Gentians, Forget-me-nots, 
Veronicas, Borage, and a few others are the only blue 
flowers commonly to be seen, but among these few 
others there is one of the stateliest and most beautiful 
of the ornaments of the July garden. The Larkspur, 
Lark's-heels, or Delphinium (Dolphin flower) is one of 
those few old fashioned flowers which have been really 
improved in every way by the selection and hybridising 
of the florist. The varieties raised during the past few 
years by Messrs Kelway of Langport and others are 
more robust and more beautiful than the original species 
or than any of the old garden kinds. The sepals are of 
every shade of blue and their beauty is enhanced by the 
white petals within. The foliage too is very beautiful, 
and, the plant being of the same width throughout — 
cylindrical rather than conical in form — the leaves, with 
the exception of those near the ground, are finely divided 
in order to allow light to reach the leaves below. The 
Delphinium is elaborately equipped with machinery for 
securing effective cross fertilisation by its humble-bee 
visitors. The stamens ripen before the pistil, and are 



THE GARDEN IN JULY 



so placed that the bee cannot get at the honey without 
covering its head with pollen, which it then bears to 
another flower. The stigma is not in evidence until the 
stamens have died, when it occupies a similarly ob- 
structive position in the road of the pollen-covered bee. 
Martagon Lilies, Alstroemerias, Montbretias, Enghsh 
Irises, Hollyhocks, Lupins, Perennial Peas, Coreopsis, 
Scabious, Galega officinalis alba and all the species of 
Campanula are among the July bloomers. Pretty as 
they are, the old blue and white Canterbury Bells are by 
no means so graceful as many of the other Bellflowers. 
C. pyramidalis, C. persicifolia and C. glomer at a Tire among the 
best of the tall kinds, whilst from the dwarfer species 
may be selected C. isophylla, C. carpatica, C, alpitia, and 
C. turbinata. 

In July also the handsome plants of the Thistle family 
are at their period of greatest beauty. Ech'mops ruthenicus, 
E. ritro, Eryngium atnethystinum, E. Okverianum, E, gigan- 
teum and E. glaciale are among the finest, but those habi- 
tants of the kitchen garden — the Cardoon and the Globe 
Artichoke — require much excellency in their peers. 

July is the month of climax for the gardener who 
grows only annual flowers raised afresh each year from 
seed. A very fine show he may have, too, during his 
somewhat brief season. To the grower of herbaceous 
plants who aims, and wisely aims, at having flowers all 
the year through, July is but one month out of twelve. 
Spring means for him not a season for sowing, so much 
as a very flowery season, full of Crocuses and Ane- 
mones, of Primroses and of Hepaticas ; for him even 
winter itself is not flowerless, since he has his Hellebores 
and winter Aconites and fragrant Coltsfoot. But with 
annual flowers the case is different. It is true that, 
by sowing in July or August, one may obtain such 
beautiful flowers as those of Erysimum, Nemophila and 
Saponaria calabrica in the spring, but the great bulk of 



6o BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



annual flowering plants are summer bloomers. Many of 
them are among the most beautiful, and certainly among 
the most showy, of our garden occupants. Sweet-peas, 
Convolvuli and Nasturtiums are as beautiful as any per- 
ennial climber ; and one has but to name Cornflowers, 
Mignonette, Coreopsis, Escholtzias and the glorious and 
gaudy army of Poppies in order to show what a garden 
of annuals may oflTer in the months of summer. 

I know of no floral sight more brilliant than that of a 
garden full of poppies in full bloom. Each flower is 
bright almost to gaudiness, yet with petals so thin and 
flimsy that no insect can rest on them, and each cup is 
accordingly furnished with a substantial alighting stage 
in its centre. Shirley poppies in every shade of red ; 
Iceland poppies in every shade of white, yellow and 
orange ; scarlet Tulip poppies ; white Alpine poppies 
— one knows not which to prefer. The poets have 
generally used the poppy only for its assistance in point- 
ing a moral. Thus, for example. Burns — 

*• Pleasures are like poppies spread — 
You seize the flower, its bloom is shed." 

**Faire without and foule within" has generally 
summed up its popular reputation, though Ruskin has 
spoken with appreciation of its beauty and delicacy. 

All the hardy annuals are easy to grow, their require- 
ments being ample sunshine, deeply dug soil, finely 
broken up and moderately, though not excessively, 
enriched, and ample space for individual development. 
Where failure occurs, it miay usually be traced to om.is- 
sion of one or other of these conditions — most commonly, 
perhaps, of the one last named. There are few annuals 
which will thrive in the shade, though Forget-me-nots, 
Venus's Looking-glass and Nemophilas will succeed in 
damp situations if the shade be not too intense. 

Personally, although I should not like to grow annuals 



THE GARDEN IN JULY 



6i 



alone, I should regretfully miss my hedge of Sweet-peas, 
my Poppies, and the soothingly fragrant, though insig- 
nificant, flowers of my Mignonette. 

One other annual flower is the prettily and appropri- 
ately named Love-in-a-Mist, with the daintiest of blue 
flowers enveloped as in a green cloud. If our poets 
were wont to look at flowers for themselves instead 
of copying one another's natural history, they might be 
referred to this delightful plant. Mr Swinburne, I 
think alone among poets, has used it as subject for 
one of his roundels. Fortunately, the neglect of poets 
has little influence on the beauty of flowers. 



NIGHT IN THE GARDEN 



During the heated days of late summer, few but the 
most enthusiastic of gardeners care to loiter in the open 
garden until evening. Then, the sun having sunk in 
the west, we venture forth from the shade of house or 
of trees, and leisurely walk the round of our paths, 
refreshingly fanned by the little rippling breeze which 
makes the leaves flutter as it rhythmically comes and 
passes. The last bees have reached their hives, laden 
with the sweet product of their hard labour. The 
honeved flowers, which look to their visits and to the 
visits of other sun-loving insects for aid in fertilisation, 
have, so far as possible, covered their tempting cups to 
avoid the damping or loss of the precious pollen within. 
Snails and slugs crawl from hidden caves, prepared to 
work in darkness the evil which fear of feathered 
warders hinders by day. Except for these workers of 
ill, these foes of beauty, the garden is apparently going 
to sleep. But wait. Wherefore is this increasing frag- 
rance streaming from the honeysuckle trellis into the 
cooling air — a fragrance surely not without seductive pur- 
pose ? Straight as the course of a homeward bound bee, 
a haw^k-moth flies to the expanded blossoms and extracts 
the honey from the narrow tubes, too deep for bee or 
wasp to sound. Look, too, at this bed which but an 
hour ago showed nothing but a green mass of leaves 
serrated as those of dandelions. Great white flowers, 
three inches or more across, have now appeared and 
produce a truly wonderful eflPect. These are the 
flowers of one of the evening primroses {Oenothera 

02 



NIGHT IN THE GARDEN 



63 



taraxicifolia), originally imported from America. Not so 
pure a white are the larger blossoms of another evening 
primrose {Oe. marginatd) which is just beginning to send 
forth from the border a fragrance as of magnolias. The 
old double white Rocket {Hesperis matromlis), or Damask 
Violet, as it was formerly called, smells more strongly 
as evening draws in, and its scent now takes on the 
character of the scent of Violets. Even more noticeable 
is the delicious fragrance which begins to be yielded by 
the Night-scented Stock (Hesperis tristis), a fragrance 
which will continue until the commencement of the 
dawn. In the presence of these happenings, we begin 
to realise that the garden is not after all asleep. Indeed, 
we see that a part at least of the living beauty of nature 
only awakes at the approach of night. 

Convention rules over us, and in the most unlikely 
places we see those unadaptive, stereotyped results 
which mark the realms where she is sovereign. How 
otherwise can we account for the fact that, although 
evening is the best time for enjoying the flowers of our 
gardens during the months of July and August, few 
gardeners ever think of devoting any part of their 
borders to the cultivation of flowers which bloom at 
night ? Yet the pleasure to be obtained from them is 
very great, and the possible variety is considerable. 
Nearly all are fragrant, as otherwise it would be difl5cult 
in the darkness for them to attract the moths which 
they mostly desire as pollen bearers. 

None of these flowers of night are more remarkable 
than Si/ene nutans, one of our native catchflies (so called 
from their viscid stems which prevent ants and creeping 
things from reaching and robbing the honey stores), 
which may occasionally be seen growing on limestone 
rocks. This plant bears many large white flowers 
during June and July, each flower living but for three 
nights. At about seven o'clock of the first evening. 



64 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



the flower quickly opens and emits a strong scent as 
of hyacinths. Five of its stamens quickly develop, the 
pollen ripens and the anthers burst. At three o'clock 
in the morning, or thereabouts, the scent ceases to be 
produced, the five anthers wither, and the corolla closes. 
During the following day the flower looks as though 
dead or dying. At the same hour as on the previous 
evening, however, it again opens and again becomes 
fragrant. Five more stamens develop and ripen their 
pollen, after which the plant again closes as before. 
The proceeding is again repeated on the third night, 
the pistil, however, now developing instead of the 
stamens. The stigma having been fertilised with 
pollen brought by moths from another flower, the 
corolla closes as before in the early morning, and never 
again reopens. Other of the Silenes, such as S. noctiflora^ 
S, irrflata^ S, vespertina, and S. lo?igijlora, also bloom at 
night and are equally interesting. 

Almost a shrub in size, the Marvel of Peru {^Mirabilis 
jalapa) is one of the handsomest of night blooming plants, 
opening its variously coloured ephemeral flowers at 
about eight o'clock, and closing them again for good 
and all before three o'clock the following morning. 
It is a somewhat delicate plant and will only thrive in 
warm soils and sunny situations. A plant not often 
seen in gardens is the fragrant Sand Verbena {Ahrofiia 
fragrans)^ a Californian perennial of fairly vigorous 
trailing habit, producing a quantity of beautiful flowers 
of purest white which open and yield a vanilla-like 
fragrance at night. 

Although too delicate to be grown all the year 
through in the open air of this country, several of the 
Thorn apples or Daturas can easily be grown as half- 
hardy annuals, and during July and August are objects 
of great beauty. The mauve-tinged white trumpets of 
D, Ceratocaula which open and aflbrd sweet fragrance 



NIGHT IN THE GARDEN 67 



at night are especially handsome, but some of the other 
kinds are almost equally worth growing. 

In addition to the evening primroses already referred 
to, there are several other very attractive species, some 
being delightfully fragrant. They are quite easily 
grown in almost any soil, and night-gardeners should 
cultivate all of them. Oenothera exhnia^ which likes a 
light soil, is one of the best of the white-flowered kinds, 
its scent somewhat resembling that of the magnolia. 
Oe, speciosa (white to rose), Oe, odorata (yellow), Oe, 
friiticosa (yellow), Oe, macrocarpa (yellow), Oe, bietinis 
grandiflora (yellow), and Oe, triloba (yellow) are but a 
few names. Some of the evening primroses remain 
more or less open in the daytime, in which case they 
are usually visited by bees as well as by their guests of 
the night. 

The catchflies are a family of night-bloomers, and 
their relative, the Soap wort {Sapo?iaria officinalis), re- 
sembles them in this respect, for its large rosy flowers 
open and become fragrant much after the manner of 
those of Silene nutans. The common pinks, too, which 
are allied plants, yield increased fragrance during the 
hours between sunset and sunrise, and are then fre- 
quently visited by moths. 

The petunias are not often capable of being grown as 
hardy perennials in English gardens, but are easily 
grown as half-hardy annuals. They lend much beauty 
and fragrance to the night-garden, the white P. 
nyctanigiflora being especially good. All the scented 
pelargoniums are delightful, the night-scented P. triste 
and P. atriim being as good as any. The hardy 
terrestrial orchids, Habetiaria bifolia and H. chlorantha, 
which yield their spicy fragrance at night, are easily 
grown in the bog garden, or indeed in any damp shady 
place if plenty of leaf-mould be mixed with the soil. 

Although usually to be seen c.ily under glass, it 



68 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



would be impossible to dismiss the subject of night 
blooming plants without referring to the ephemeral 
blossoms of the night-flowering cactuses, Cereus grandi- 
Jlora — with its vanilla scented brown and yellow flowers, 
often measuring a foot across — and C. nycticalus, known 
as the Queen of the Night. The flowers of these 
plants open at about nine o'clock and begin to wither 
some six hours later. 

One might go on adding to the list, but, even from 
the few plants here enumerated, it will be seen that 
the night gardener has a considerable field in which to 
work ; whilst to those who share Baudelaire's love of 
scents, the realm of night-blooming flowers should be a 
very Paradise. 

est des parfums frais comme des chairs d'enfants, 
Doux comme les hautbois, verts comme les prairies, 

Et d'aiitres, corrumpus, riches et triomphants, 

Ayant I'expansion des choses infinies, 

Comme I'ambre, le muse, le benjoin et I'encens, 

Qui chantent les transports de I'esprit et des sens." 



THE GARDEN IN AUGUST 



August is really but July continued, for no important 
new feature is peculiar to it. July is very distinct from 
June, as the latter is from May, and that again from 
April, but July ai\d August are essentially alike. The 
weather is similar, the flowers are similar, and, as a 
result, it is probable that the enthusiasm of gardeners 
reaches a lower point in August than in any other month 
of the year. 

Roses and Carnations are still among the most im- 
important flowers in the garden, and the majority of 
summer blooming annuals and perennial herbaceous 
plants are still flowerful. 

It is somewhat depressing to observe how the beautiful 
race of Fuchsias has gone out of cultivation since it went 
out of fashion. I do not know quite when the Fuchsia 
was introduced into this country, but I beheve it was 
about the middle of the eighteenth century. The Rev. 
William Hanbury, Rector of Church Langton, in 
Leicestershire," in a two volume work in folio, en- 
titled A Complete Body of Gardening and Planting," 
published in 177 1, of which I possess a copy, says that 
in his time only one species of Fuchsia was known. 
'*This being the only species of the genus, it is named 
simply Fuchsia. Father Plumier calls it Fuchsia triphylla 
flore coccineo. It grows naturally in most of the warmest 
parts of America." Hanbury included it among stove 
plants, alleging that it is very tender at all times," 
but as a matter of fact F, cocci?iea can easily be grown 
in the open air in most districts of ^England, though it 

69 



70 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



thrives best in the milder parts. The scarlet drops 
hanging from a tall bush of this plant — and it sometimes 
reaches a height of five or six feet, or even more — are 
very attractive, and one can but admire the taste of the 
humming birds which in its native home the Fuchsia 
seeks to attract. 

Except near the sea and in certain warm situations, 
Fuchsias can hardly be regarded as thoroughly hardy 
plants ; but, wherever they will succeed, they should 
certainly be grown, for they are amongst the most 
beautiful ornaments of the garden in late summer and 
autumn. Perhaps the hardiest of all is F. Riccartoni, 
with bright red flowers, but the old F. globosa is almost 
its equal in vigour. 

F. macrostema gracilis is of taller and, as its name 
implies, of more slender habit than the other hardy 
kinds. It has the further advantage of producing its 
pretty scarlet and purple drops somewhat later in the 
autumn. A Fuchsia bush rarely looks shabby on account 
of dead and dying flowers, for, when their work is done, 
the petals usually fall before they have begun to wither, 

I am sure that gardeners who study the native flora 
of England derive much more pleasure from their 
flowers than those who focus all their attention on 
the cultivated species and hybrids which are grown in 
gardens. The hedges and woodlands are full of ex- 
amples and full of suggestions, for they show us the 
habit and manner of life of the English relatives of our 
exotic plants. By studying the wild species with their 
wonderful grace and simple beauty, indicative of adapta- 
tion of means to ends, we are less liable to become the 
slaves of the florists. 

The hedges, or rather the wayside patches at the 
hedgerow's base, are very beautiful just at this season, 
with the yellow flowers of two of the Cinquefoils, the 
silky fern-like-leaved Potentilla Anserina (Silver weed) 



THE GARDEN IN AUGUST 



71 



and the creeping P. reptans. The Cinquefoil much 
resembles the Strawberry, producing its honey by means 
of a dark-coloured ridge which runs round the tube of 
the flower near its base. Its stamens and pistil how- 
ever develop coincidently, whereas the stigmas of the 
Strawberry ripen long before the stamens, and con- 
sequently self-fertilisation is far more common than is 
the case with the latter. 

It must have been the quinately leaved P. reptans 
which was formerly in favor as a heraldic device. 
Folkard says that the number of the leaves answered 
to the five senses of man. The right to bear Cinquefoil 
was considered an honourable distinction to him who 
had worthily conquered his affections and mastered his 
senses. 

Many species of Potentilla are valuable garden plants, 
from the little Alpine P. nitida, whose leaves shine more 
brilliantly than our Silver weed, to the showy P. atro- 
sanguinea, and the hybrid varieties derived from it, 
which are the kinds usually seen in gardens. Among 
these hybrids are a number of single and double sorts, 
nearly all of which possess good colour — mostly ranging 
from yellow to scarlet. 

Two other races of garden hybrids are of extreme 
importance in late summer, the Pentstemons and Phloxes, 
the latter being among the most valuable of border 
plants. In selecting varieties of either of these flowers 
one should be careful to avoid the very washy and hate- 
ful magentas and purples which are but too frequently 
seen. The Pentstemons are worthy of greatly increased 
culture, for they often continue to flower until the 
frosts of November. 

The great race of hybrid Gladioli derived from G. 
bre?jchleyensis and G. gandavensis are now fashionable, as 
they deserve. The scarlet G. brenchleyensis is itself very 
hardy and should be grown in quantity. 



72 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



The hybrids require some care and should be planted 
in March at a depth of three inches and a distance of 
nine inches apart in deeply dug, rich, well-drained soil, 
free from fresh manure. About the second week in 
September, before the foliage has died down, the corms 
should be lifted and thoroughly dried off in a freely 
ventilated shed. 

But most brilliant of all the flowers of August are 
the scarlet Lobelias, L» cardinalis (described by Parkin- 
son), and L, splendens with their varieties. They are 
not very hardy, but with a little protection during 
winter can be grown in most well-drained gardens. 
Moisture during summer is essential, so that a slightly 
shaded position should be selected. 



THE GARDEN IN AUTUMN 



It is the deciduous trees and shrubs which announce the 
arrival of autumn. Green leaves take on a colouring of 
yellow, brown, or red more pronounced than the yellows 
and reds of spring. As the wind blows, a few of the 
ripest leaves fall, and one becomes conscious of a feeling 
of evening, of the end of a play, or of the end of a 
beautiful poem. If it were but by these autumnal 
colourings, and by the feelings which the fall of the 
leaf produces, one would be well repaid for the planting 
and cultivating of trees and shrubs. 

Because the active life of these larger plants is over 
for a season, however, one need not imagine that the 
well managed garden is suddenly to become flowerless. 
Roses and Pentstemons, Potentillas and Phloxes, Sweet- 
Peas and Nasturtiums, and a host of other summer 
bloomers still remain and often continue to bear flowers 
till hard frost pulls down the curtain. But it is not on 
summer flowers that we need rely, for there are numer- 
ous beautiful hardy flowers peculiar to autumn itself. 
Dahlias, Rudbeckias, Sunflowers, Tritomas, Michael- 
mas Daisies, Japanese Anemones, Fuchsias and Chrys- 
anthemums are those which immediately rise in the 
memory. 

The common Torch Lily, or Red-hot-Poker, is almost 
the hardiest of the Tritomas — or Kniphofias, as they are 
now called — and in a moderately light soil will live year 
after year with little or no attention. Often, in neglected 
cottage gardens at about the end of August, a group of 
these Flame flowers, burning red and glowing yellow, 

73 



74 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



arrest the attention and cheer the landscape. The variety 
known as grandis is even more effective, often reaching 
a height of nine feet or even more. 

The dark crimson Kniphofia Burchelli is valuable on 
account of its long blooming period, as also is the orange 
and scarlet K, Saundersii, but all the kinds are good, 
though not all are distinct. Considering that it was 
introduced from the Cape nearly two hundred years 
ago, it is somewhat curious that the Kniphofia is still 
comparatively a rare flower. 

Although it was mentioned by Hernandez in his 
History of Mexico, as long ago as 1 65 1, the Dahlia 
was not introduced into this country until 1 789, when 
Lady Bute brought a plant from Madrid. It is scarcely 
hardy in heavy soil or in the northern half of England, 
and it will generally be necessar}^ to lift the roots in 
late autumn, and, having ripened them in a shed, to 
store them for the winter in a cool dry place, where 
the temperature will not fall below freezing point. In 
the spring, the separate tubers may be planted in deep 
rich soil ; or the roots may in February be placed in a 
hot bed, and as the young shoots which form are about 
three and a half inches long, they may be separated 
together with a small piece of the tuber, and potted in 
small pots which should be placed in the hot-bed until 
the young plants are ready to be planted out. The old 
double kinds are much inferior to the single and cactus 
varieties. Dahlias compass a very wide range of colour, 
and there are so many good sorts that each grower may 
well be left to select for himself. In choosing Cactus 
Dahlias, it is wise to select kinds in which the flowers 
stand out well beyond the foliage. 

The vigorous Sneezeweeds or Heleniums are among 
the easiest of all plants to grow, and will exist on almost 
any soil. Like other hardy plants, however, they pay 
for deep cultivation and manure. They bear yellow 



WHITE WOOD LILIES 



THE GARDEN IN AUTUMN 



composite flowers, and grow to a height of five or six 
feet. H. autumnale is the most generally valuable. 

The Cone-flowers, or Rudbeckias, are also handsome 
American plants, the best being R. speciosus^ which bears 
orange flowers with dark yellow centres, and is a very 
fine bloomer. 

But even more useful and important than Heleniums 
and Rudbeckias are the various perennial sunflowers, 
of which Helianthus multiflorus and H, rigidusy with 
their varieties, are perhaps the best worth cultivating. 

All these North American composites are such very 
vigorous growers that they should not be placed in close 
proximity to small or delicate plants, and it is advisable 
—except in quite wild places — to take them up every 
two years and divide the roots. 

The Michaelmas Daisies, or tall-growing Asters, are 
steadily growing in favour coincidently with the growth 
of the popular taste. Deep cultivation, moderately rich 
soil, and division every two or three years, are the 
conditions of their successful culture. Aster ericoides, 
A, amellus bessarabicus , A. acris, A. Short it and A. vim- 
ineus are a few good kinds. 

Both the white and the rose-coloured varieties of 
Anemone Japonica should be grown, and are of the 
easiest culture. They may be rapidly increased by 
division, and should be allowed to develop into bold 
clumps. Megasea cordifolia and the Pampas Grass are 
among the autumnal bloomers, as also are the Crocus- 
like Colchicums, the even more delicately coloured 
autumn Crocuses, Sedum spectabile, Sternbergia lutea, 
the late-flowering Gladioli, and the beautiful Amaryllis 
Belladonna. 

Quite unHke all other autumn flowers — indeed unlike 
all other flowers — the Japanese Chrysanthemum gives 
us the latest display of brilliant colouring of the garden 
year. For border decoration, they may be treated much 



78 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



as other herbaceous plants and divided in the spring. 
Owing to the season at which they flower and the 
frequent occurrence of violent storms at that period, it 
is desirable to grow Chrysanthemums against a wall or 
hedge. The varieties are infinite in number, so that 
when ordering plants for out-door use it is advisable to 
instruct the florist as to the purpose to which you intend 
to devote them. A few very hardy kinds are Madame 
C. Desgrange, Lady Fitzwigram, Roi des Precoses, and 
Ryecroft Glory. 

The autumn tints assumed by the leaves of many 
deciduous trees and shrubs are very interesting and 
beautiful. Of such, the following short list may be of 
a little help : — 

Acer colchicum rubrum. Cornus (of sorts). 
Acer platanoides lacini- Liriodendron. 

atum. Parrotia persica. 

Acer Schwedleri. Rhus (of sorts). 

Azalea pontica. Rubus (of sorts). 

Amelanchier canadensis. Spiraea Thunbergii. 
Berberis Thunbergii. Silver Birch. 

In one of his most suggestive essays, John Burroughs 
pointed out that in autumn the battles of the spring are 
fought over again. But, whereas in the spring it is the 
summer warmth which eventually, in spite of many 
mishaps and reverses, wins the victory, in the autumnal 
ebb it is the cold which finally gains the day. This 
constant strife between succeeding seasons at the points 
of meeting lies at the root of the peculiar charm of the 
English climate and of the Enghsh flora. 



The following lists are borrowed from my Chronicle 
a Cornish Garden : — 



A FEW GOOD TALI 

Hollyhocks. 

Delphiniums. 

Paeonies. 

Aconitum napelliis. 
Aconitum autumnale. 
Rudbeckia maxima. 
Rudbeckia laciniata. 
Doronicum plantagineum 
excelsum. 

A FEW GOOD TA 

Anemone japonica alba. 
Aquilegias (in variety). 
Papaver orientale. 
Iris germanica. 
Lilium candidum. 
Achillea ptarmica fl. pi. 
Dicentra spectabilis. 
Scabiosa caucasica. 
Campanula persicifolia. 
Campanula latifolia alba. 
Campanula Van Houttei. 
Campanula turbinata. 
Primula japonica. 
Coreopsis. 



5T BORDER PLANTS. 

Digitalis. 
Tritomas. 

Campanula macrantha. 
Campanula pyramidalis. 
Galega officinalis alba. 
Phlox (in variety). 
Spiraea aruncus. 
Helianthus (in variety). 

BORDER PLANTS. 

Carnations. 
Helleborus niger. 
Helleborus orientale. 
Adonis vernalis. 
Alstroemeria. 
Erigeron speciosus. 
Montbretias. 
Gladioli. 
Pentstemons. 
Lobelia cardinalis. 
Asters. 

Chrysanthemums. 
Geum chiloense. 
Marguerites. 



79 



8o BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



A FEW GOOD DWARF BORDER-PLANTS. 



Veronica prostrata. 
Veronica saxatilis. 
Veronica rupestris. 
Silene Schafta. 
Silene acaulis. 
Silene alpestris. 
Campanula isophylla. 
Campanula pulla. 
Campanula turbinata. 
Anemone apennina. 
Anemone blanda. 
Anemone coronaria. 
Anemone fulgens. 
Anemone nemorosa. 
Dianthus alpina. 
Dianthus deltoides. 
Dianthus plumarius. 
Gentiana acaulis. 
Gentiana verna. 
Iberis coriaefolia. 
Iberis sempervirens. 
Phlox amoena. 
Phlox subulata. 
Auricula (alpine varieties). 
Cyclamen (various). 
Viola pedata. 



Campanula carpatica. 
Campanula pumila. 
Campanula pelviformis. 
Hepatica (various). 
Aubrietia (various). 
Primula rosea. 
Primula vulgaris. 
Primula Sieboldi. 
Primula nivalis. 
Viola (various, violas and 

pansies). 
Papaver nudicaule. 
Cistus (various). 
Helianthenum (various). 
Alyssum ,, 
Fritillaria 

Crocus „ 

Galanthus 

Narcissus 

Tulipa 

Scilla 

Iris 

Leucojum 
Chionodoxa 
Eranthis hyemalis. 



SHELTER AND SHADE 

There are many ways of growing hardy flowering 
plants, and of growing them to advantage, but all these 
different methods have certain fundamental conditions in 
common. Of these conditions the most important are 
the possession of a suitable site and the provision of 
suitable soil. Children are raised in slums and hovels, 
and even in besieged and famine-stricken towns ; and, in 
like manner, there is no site so bad, no aspect so dull, 
no air so vile, no soil so poor and shallow but plants 
may be found which will there exist. But in order that 
we may grow any considerable variety of beautiful 
flowers we must screen our garden from bitter winds, 
and so prepare our soil that it shall be adapted for 
vigorous plant growth. Wind-resisting screens may 
consist either of walls or of suitable trees and shrubs. 
Which of these forms of protection should be selected 
depends on circumstances which vary with different 
gardens. In any event, it will be generally agreed that 
a garden should be so enclosed (Hortus — an enclosed 
space) as to afford not only shelter to plants from the 
more strenuous forces of Nature, but also that privacy 
from the vulgar gaze which we call seclusion. If the 
garden is to be enclosed by walls, let these be of a 
fair height — not less than ten feet ; and let them be 
clothed with a variety of the lovely climbing plants 
now at the disposal of the gardener. There is con- 
siderable room for choice both among deciduous and 
evergreen climbers. Among the best of the former 

F 8l 



82 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



section are the self-clinging Ampelopsis Veitchii, the 
blue and the white Passion-flowers, numerous varieties 
of Clematis, the winter-blooming Jasminum nudiflorum. 
Wistaria, Honeysuckles, Bignonia radicans, and many 
of the Roses and Vines ; whilst against walls facing 
north we may grow Tropaeolum speciosum, Clematis 
flammula, the Evergreen and Boursault Roses and the 
Virginian Creeper. The Evergreens mostly prosper 
with any aspect. Among the best are the various Ivies 
and Cotoneasters and Crataegus pyracantha. 

The trees and shrubs which may be used are 
numerous ; but for dense hedges perhaps the most 
useful are Holly, White Thorn, Privet, Barberry, Laurel, 
Box and Yew. Where possible, the straight line of a 
long clipped hedge may be broken by groups of shrubs 
planted within, unless a formal garden effect be desired. 
It is well to distinguish between the use of shrubs or 
trees as bounding fences or screens and their use as 
beautiful individual plants ; and, when a dense screen 
is required, to obtain it by means of suitable trees and 
a properly made and properly shorn hedge rather than 
by a thickly-planted and therefore overcrowded shrub- 
bery." Whether it be trees or shrubs or climbing 
plants that we propose to plant, the ground should be 
deeply trenched and well manured, so that annual 
meddling about the roots may not be required. Whilst 
a certain proportion of evergreen shrubs, such as the 
beautiful hollies and barberries, should be used, it is 
undesirable to make too free a use of non-deciduous 
plants. The ordinary overcrowded laurel and privet 
shrubbery is hideous and depressing. 

Trees and shrubs, however, are useful not only for 
the shelter and seclusion which they yield, but also 
for their delightful summer shade. In one of his essays, 
Emerson quotes an Arabian poet's description of his 
hero : — 



SHELTER AND SHADE 83 



Sunshine was he 
In the winter day ; 
And in the midsummer 
Coolness and shade." 

That is a beautiful description of a perfect friend, but it 
might serve equally as a description of a perfect garden. 
The flowers of July are infinite in their number and 
exquisite in their beauty, yet, if they are grown in a 
large, tidy, treeless, shrubless garden, they will yield 
but little pleasure. A garden is not a place merely for 
the exhibition of floral wonders, but a place wherein to 
rest, to talk, to read or to dream. With the blazing 
sun of July beating on one's unshaded head, dreaming, 
resting, and reading are equally uncomfortable and 
unprofitable. 

A shade-giving tree is worth all the flowers of 
midsummer, though fortunately one is not called upon 
to sacrifice either. Trees and shrubs yield welcome 
shade, but, quite apart from this, they help to throw up, 
and provide suitable backgrounds for, the dwarfer plants 
which make up the majority of our garden contents. 
We have been too fond of cutting down trees, and many 
a suburb has reason to regret the revision of the old 
forest law of King William: Gif the forestier or 
wiridier finds anie man without the principall wode, but 
sit within the pale, heueand dune ane aik tree, he sould 
attack him." 

According to our soil and site, must we select the 
shrubs and trees which will be happiest under the con- 
ditions we can offer them. When we have ample space, 
no trees can surpass in beauty our native deciduous trees, 
such as the oak and hornbeam ; but it is from the smaller 
trees and larger shrubs that owners of more moderately- 
sized gardens must chiefly look for shade and back- 
grounds. Japan has given us many things of infinite 
value, but few more precious than the white-flowering 



84 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



species of Styrax. The dense, bright foliage, the 
sweetly-scented, snow-white bells, and the general habit 
of the tree render Styrax obassia one of the most valuable 
constituents of a garden. Japan, too, has given us a 
number of Maples which afford a feast of colour unrivalled 
by any other group of trees in the world. They are 
worth trying in any mild or protected situation, though 
they should be planted on a small, experimental scale at 
first as they do not thrive everywhere. They seem to 
like partial shade and a north aspect. Those who have 
mild and weather-favoured situations may glory in the 
fragrant and — when well grown — handsome Magnolias, 
though with these again success is not to be fore-counted 
a certainty. But few are so badly placed but they may 
grow the Lilacs, Laburnums, Hawthorns, Guelder Roses, 
Spiraeas, Dogwoods, Weeping Birches, Weeping 
Willows, and Flowering Currants. As decorative as 
most, however, and more useful than any, of the shrubs 
and trees worth growing in a garden, are the apples and 
pears, medlars and quinces, plums and cherries whose 
flowers and fruits have always impressed the traveller as 
a beautiful feature of English landscape. 

Beneath the shade of deciduous trees there are many 
plants which will live healthy and flowery lives. In the 
spring we have for such situations the great array of 
bulbs, together with many of the Primroses, Sweet Wood- 
ruff, Hepaticas, Hellebores, Fair maids of France, Doroni- 
cums, and other early bloomers ; and, even when the 
trees are in full leaf, we may enjoy, if the soil be but 
properly prepared, such pleasant flowers as those of the 
Martagon Lily and Lilium speciosum. Campanulas, both 
dwarf and tall, Foxgloves, Knotweeds, and Columbines ; 
whilst ferns of many kinds, together with several of the 
Saxifrages and Megaseas, and such plants as Acanthus 
mollis and the herbaceous Geranium, all help to produce 
the pleasant effect which is yielded by the draping of the 



SHELTER AND SHADE 85 



floor of coppice or of forest. When the shade is so 
dense and the soil so poor that even these plants will not 
thrive, we may fall back on Ivy, Creeping Jenny, and 
Periwinkle; though, where the soil is enriched with old 
leafmould and manure and properly dug, no shade of 
trees is too dense for many of the ferns, both deciduous 
and evergreen. 



SOILS AND THEIR PREPARATION 



Many people imagine that in some mysterious fashion 
plants eat soil much as we eat beef-steak \ and that, all 
soil being just soil," one has but to make a hole in the 
ground and thrust the roots of a plant into it, in order 
to make the desert bloom as the rose. This idea is in- 
correct, just as was the idea of a Devonshire farmer 
whom I once saw feeding his month-old baby with 
cheese and cider. Feed 'un on milk ? " said he. " Fd 
zooner gee 'un zope-zuds. Let 'un ave summat wi' 
zum strength in't." 

Soil is to plants not a source of food alone, but is a 
suit of clothes, a blanket and coverlet, a cooking-range 
and a drawing-room fire. It is a pied-a-terre in its most 
literal sense, and it is a cellar and tankard combined. 
To all the great and beautiful world of flowers, the soil 
is indeed mother earth, giving them warmth and nourish- 
ment in their infancy, affording them a root-hold 
throughout their life, and offering them sanctuary for 
their bodies when their earthly life is done. 

He who would grow beautiful flowers must therefore 
first study the soil from which he would raise them. 
He must get to know it, to learn its wants, and learn also 
how he may best satisfy them. In time, if he be indeed a 
lover of flowers, he will grow also to love the earth and 
to understand it. He will become one of those true 
and happy gardeners so beloved of the gods that every 
flower they lovingly plant is made to flourish and 
multiply. 

86 



SOILS AND THEIR PREPARATION 87 



First, then, let us think of what this soil is made, and 
of how it came into being. Look at the surface of any old 
stone-built church or house and you will see how every 
stone is partly covered by moss or lichen or other lowly 
plant. These plants are growing in soil — formed by the 
slow action of rain and air on the surface of the walls. 
Similarly, in the gradual pulverisation and decomposition 
of rocks, has all soil taken its origin. Similarly also, as 
a rule, have lowly plants been its first offspring, the 
bodies of which have been afterwards incorporated with 
their mother soil. By the further action of the weather, 
coupled with the action of the accompaniments of the 
decomposition of these early plants, the soil becomes 
deeper, and becomes also furnished with dead vegetable 
matter, or humus, without which none of the higher 
and more developed plants are able to live. 

According to the nature of the original rock, and 
according also to the sort of natural weathering " 
or watering " to which it has been subjected, so will 
the resultant soil be mainly sand or mainly clay, or an 
equal mixture of the two. Mixed with these will 
usually be found a certain amount of little stones or 
gravel, and a certain amount of dark coloured humus. 
In a soil which is nearly all sand, or in one which is 
nearly all clay, few flowers will thrive, but in what is 
called a loamy soil — that is, one in which clay and sand 
are nearly equal — nearly all plants will grow and prosper 
if other conditions be favourable. The presence of 
humus in the soil is important in many ways, for not 
only does it contain much that is essentia) food for plant 
growth, but also it assists the earth in retaining that 
moisture without which life is impossible. By its 
chemical activity, also, it produces useful heat and 
liberates stores of food from the mineral soil itself. 
Therefore it is that we add dead leaves, farmyard 
manure, sea-weed and the like to our garden soil. 



88 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



But, though moisture is essential to the health of plants, 
the presence of stagnant water is little less fatal than 
drought. If we find that a hole dug in our gardens to 
the depth of two feet soon contains water not obtained 
from above, we may usually assume that drainage is 
required. 

If our soil be too light (i.e. sandy) we may improve it 
by the addition of dried and powdered clay, meal and 
organic manure, from cowshed or stable ; if it be too 
heavy (^i.e. containing an excess of clay) we may make it 
more suitable for our garden use by mixing with it 
sand, ashes, lime, gritty road-scrapings, or old 
mortar. 

We all know how very much hotter in summer and 
colder in winter is a starched linen shirt than is one 
made of flannel or of some cellular open-woven fabric. 
This is of course due to the fact that the former is the 
better conductor of heat. In like manner, a loose, 
cellular, open-woven," porous soil is a much worse 
conductor of heat than the caked and baked soil which 
we often see in ill-kept gardens. 

The roots of plants like coolness in summer, but in 
winter they desire all the warmth that they can obtain. 
Hence the desirability of always maintaining the surface 
of the ground to the depth of an inch or two in a loose 
open condition by means of the hoe. This is of value 
also in checking evaporation, for, by keeping the surface 
inch of soil loose and fine, the capillary connection 
between the air and the deeper layers of soil is broken. 
Surface mulchings of litter, moss, leaves or manure 
act in the same way as does the simpler mulch of hoed 
soil. Of course the process of top-dressing with leaves 
or farm-manure, in order to add to the soil the food 
elements which they contain, is quite a different matter, 
and cannot be replaced. 

Very few gardeners can be said to make anything 




FOXGLOVES 



SOILS AND THEIR PREPARATION 91 



approaching adequate use of the soil which they cultivate. 
The majority of amateur gardeners, and not a few pro- 
fessional ones, never get their spade more than a foot 
or, at the outside, more than eighteen inches below the 
surface. As a matter of fact, all garden soil should be 
dug to a minimum depth of two feet, or preferably to 
a depth of three feet when possible. In preparing a 

A L G M K I 3 



piece of ground for planting, it should, therefore, be 
trenched as deeply as possible, preferably to a depth 
of three feet. 

This operation may be performed as follows : — 
Let A B C D represent the piece of ground to be 
trenched. Measure off A E,EG,GM,D F, FH, ^nANH, 
each the distance of one foot. Stretch a line from E to F 
and notch the surface with a spade along this line. Pro- 
ceed in the same way from G to H, Next dig the piece 



92 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 

A E F D io z, depth of OQe foot, wheeling this surface 
soil to form a heap at B. Also dig to the same depth 
the piece E G H F z.nd add this soil to the heap at B. 
Next remove the subsoil from the piece A E F D to the 
depth of another foot, and wheel it to C. The deeper 
subsoil in the piece A E F D should then be dug to a 
depth of another foot and left in its old position. The 
subsoil from E G H F to the depth of a foot should 
now be placed with the spade on ^ FED, and the deep 
subsoil below it dug and left i;j situ. A layer of farm- 
yard manure may next be placed on the A E F D, and 
on this should be placed the top foot of soil from 
G M N H. The subsoil from G M N H should next 
be placed on E G H F, on this being placed a 
layer of manure covered in turn by fresh top soil. 
In this the work should be proceeded with until 
the last two feet of the patch are reached. The 
subsoil from / J5 C / is to be placed on the deep 
subsoil of K I J L, on this a layer of manure covered 
by one half of the surface soil in the heap at B, 
The heap of subsoil at C and the remainder of 
the surface soil at B are to be placed in the space 
IB C L, 

This proceeding may strike the novice much as a 
problem of Euclid strikes the mentally lazy, but the 
importance of deep cultivation is so great that everyone 
who would be a successful gardener should thoroughly 
understand its practice. By the method of trenching 
above described, the three layers of earth called here 
soil, subsoil and deep subsoil are maintained in their 
respective orders of depth, for nothing is more fatal 
than to bury the living earth" of the surface below 
the reach of the roots of our plants, bringing to 
the surface in its place the barren subsoil devoid 
of humus and devoid of those living bacteria so 
essential to the fertility of the soil. By proper and 



SOILS AND THEIR PREPARATION 93 



continuous cultivation, the actual living soil attains 
an ever increasing thickness, so that in time the 
top two feet may be correctly described as surface 
soil and become freely interchangeable throughout its 
thickness. 



MANURES 



The idyll of manures has been written by the Dean of 
Rochester, who has placed on eternal record his devotion 
to Sterculus, the son of Faunus, whom he imaged as 
riding proudly, pitch-fork agricultural trident") in 
hand, in his family chariot, the currus Stercorosus {Anglice, 
muck-cart). As I can confess to no such love, I will 
merely state the few facts which all plant-growers must 
bear in memory. 

The great and safe manure for hardy flower culture 
is that of the stable or farm-yard, which is so valuable, 
not only for the actual food elements which itself con- 
tains, but also for the mass of straw and other organic 
material which by its fermentation sets up chemical 
activity in the soil, and so liberates a small continuous 
supply of the plant-foods therein contained. This latter 
property is what gives much of its manurial value to 
the mixed rubbish" of the ash-pit — containing as it 
generally does such waste organic matter as cabbage 
leaves, potato-peelings, and bits" of all kinds. Buried 
weeds, leaves and garden refuse" act in a precisely 
similar way. These organic manures are, moreover, of 
the greatest service in keeping the soil open, porous and 
friable, in retaining water and so retaining also mineral 
plant-foods dissolved therein, and in adding to the 
warmth of the soil both by engendering heat in the 
process of fermentation and by mechanically rendering 
the soil a worse conductor. 

In the preliminary preparation of borders or beds, 
provided the soil be well dug to a depth of two or 

94 



MANURES 



95 



three feet, a really heavy dressing of farm-yard manure 
should be well incorporated — say about a ton to every 
two hundred square yards. The manure should not 
be buried, but should be intimately mixed with the 
whole depth of soil. A light sandy soil will take a 
heavier, and a heavy soil a lighter dressing than the 
average one suggested. The beds should be manured 
and otherwise prepared sometime before the planting 
is to take place, as many plants and especially many 
bulbous plants cannot stand the proximity of fresh and 
rank manure. 

When the ground is thus properly prepared at the 
start, little more actual cultivation is needed in the case of 
most hardy herbaceus plants beyond annual top dressing 
with manure, occasional loosening of the surface soil 
where not covered by dwarf plants, weeding, and 
occasional thinning or division of big clumps. When- 
ever a plant is taken up, the opportunity should be 
seized to add a fork-load of rotten manure to the spot 
vacated. Top dressings should as far as possible be 
placed round plants in early spring, just before new 
growth starts, as the manure is then soon covered and 
concealed by foliage. 

Bone meal, finely-broken bones, small quantities of 
guano, and even carefully-applied nitrate of soda (half- 
an-ounce to the square yard) have their respective values, 
but the novice will be wise in placing reliance on farm- 
yard manure for the bulk of his plants. 



SEED-SOWING AND TRANSPLANTING 



The gardening beginner will be well advised to obtain 
the greater number of his perennials as plants ; but 
there are some which are easily grown from seeds, 
and seed-sowing is the method by which all the hardy 
annuals and biennials are to be raised. In the case of 
annual and biennial plants, such as sweet-peas, mignon- 
ette, nasturtiums, convolvuluses, nigellas, and the rest, 
the seed may well be sown in the open borders or beds, 
if the soil be but well dug and finely divided. It is advis- 
able, however, to mix a little sand and leafmould with 
the soil, and to give the seed-bed a good watering on 
the night previous to sowing the seeds, if the soil be 
otherwise dry. At the same time it is necessary to 
avoid sowing when the ground is sticky after or during 
heavy rain. The seed having been sown in finely- 
pulverised soil which is neither too wet nor too dry, 
it is a good practice to press the seed-bed, either by the 
use of a roller, or by patting it with the flat of a spade. 
This tends to promote the flow of a continuous supply 
of moisture from the deeper parts to the surface of the 
soil by means of capillary attraction. As, however, 
this proceeding also promotes a continuous loss of soil- 
moisture by evaporation, the surface should be loosened 
by hoe or rake as soon as the young plants appear — 
indeed, in the case of the more deeply-buried seeds, 
such as sweet-peas, the surface should be slightly dis- 
turbed as soon as the sowing and pressing have been 
performed. In dry weather, evaporation from the seed- 
bed may be checked by shading it with a screen placed 
about two feet above the surface. 
96 



SEED-SOWING AND TRANSPLANTING 97 



As to the depth at which seed should be sown, much 
depends on the variety, as also on the nature of the soil 
and the season of the year ; but it may be taken as a 
general rule that small seeds should be covered by a 
depth of soil about equal to their thickness, whilst 
seeds such as sweet peas should be sown two inches 
deep. The soil must not be allowed to become quite 
dry, but great care is to be taken in watering, which 
should be done, when necessary, with a watering-pot 
provided with a very fine rose. Those perennials, such 
as the columbines, campanulas, poppies, and primroses, 
which are easily to be raised from seed, may be sown 
in open beds, but, as they are somewhat slower in 
germinating, it will usually be found more satisfactory 
to sow them in shallow earthenware pans containing a 
mixture of loam, sand and leaf-mould. The soil in the 
pans can best be kept moist by occasionally dipping the 
seed-pan in a vessel of water, being very careful not to 
lower it so that the surface of the soil is below the 
surface of the water. A sheet of glass may be placed 
as a cover to the seed-pan until germination takes place ; 
but, in order to check evaporation from the surface, care 
should be taken not to damp off" the young seedlings 
through excessive moisture and insufficient air. 

There is one great rule to be borne in mind in sowing 
all kinds of seed, and that rule, printed in largest type, 
should be placed wherever gardeners are to be found : — 
SOW THINLY. Do not rely too much on subsequent 
thinning out, but allow space for development from the 
first, for at no stage of its career should a young plant 
be pressed upon by its neighbour. A knowledge of the 
size and habit of the mature plant is therefore necessary 
in order to estimate the requisite space between the seeds. 
It must, however, be remembered that a certain propor- 
tion of seeds will fail to germinate, and that a certain 
proportion of seedlings will fall victims to disease and 

G 



98 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



snails. In the case of plants which are intended to be 
transplanted from the seed-bed or seed-pan, it is of 
course the size of the seedlings at the transplanting 
stage which has to be borne in mind in judging of the 
correct distance between the seeds. But it is a point 
which cannot be too often drubbed into young gardeners 
— and old ones too for that matter — that one well- 
grown plant is better than twenty badly grown ones. 
Also it should ever be remembered that a plant starved 
in infancy suffers for it throughout its career. 

Seeds of hardy plants may be sown at almost any 
time during spring, summer, or autumn, provided that 
due attention be given in the matter of watering, pre- 
paration of the soil and the like. Most of the biennials 
and perennials may with advantage be sown in June and 
transplanted to their flowering quarters in September. 
Annuals intended to bloom in the summer or autumn 
should be sown in March, April and May ; whilst those 
intended to flower in the following year should be sown 
in August and September. 

Most plants may be transplanted at any season of the 
year if the operation be properly performed. A dull 
day or an evening should be selected, and a ball of 
earth should if possible be removed attached to the 
roots. The ground into which the plant is to be re- 
moved, should be well and deeply dug, and a deep and 
capacious hole be made with a trowel or dibbler. Into 
this the plant is to be carefully placed, its roots being 
well spread out and well settled by means of w^ater. 
For a day or two after being moved, it should be shaded 
from the hot sun, and for the first few evenings should 
be liberally watered. 




LofC. 



S URLEY POPPIES 



LAYERS AND CUTTINGS 



The division of the rootstock is a method of propaga- 
tion applicable to the majority of perennial plants. In 
the case of most corms and bulbs, it is necessary, in 
order to increase the supply, to separate the young 
bulbels or cormels and to plant them out in a nursery 
bed until they develope to a useful flowering size. But 
in the division of the rootstocks of herbaceous plants a 
certain amount of violence is usually required, and a 
strong knife, a cold chisel and a mallet will be found 
useful tools. Each plant, if it is to develop into a new 
plant, must include at least one eye or bud and must 
usually also be provided with a supply of rootlets. 

Many plants may be propagated by the process known 
as layering, which essentially consists in pegging down 
a shoot to the ground by means of a little crotchet stick, 
having notched with a sharp knife half way through a 
joint at the point where the shoot touches the soil, and 
covering the pegged down part of the shoot with a few 
inches of good gritty loam. In a little while, roots will 
form at the point of section and the shoot can be 
separated from its parent as an independent plant. The 
Carnation is usually propagated in this way, the layering 
being performed in July and the young plants being 
separated a few months later. Roses may be pegged 
down and layered in a somewhat similar way, but in 
their case it is the middle of a branch and not its base 
which is cut and pegged beneath the soil. 

Another method by which many plants can be in- 
creased is that of cuttage. This is the method usually 

lOI 



I02 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



employed by growers of chrysanthemums, pansies, and 
certain other plants. To effect this, a cut should be made 
in a slanting direction through the stem to be severed, 
just below a joint. As a rule cuttings of herbaceous 
plants should be made in the spring. Some cuttings 
will root readily in light soil in the open air if a shady 
position be selected, but usually it will be found to be 
desirable to plant the cuttings in pots of sandy loam and 
to place in a hot bed, shading from the sun until they 
are rooted. 



WEEDS 



Let the painfull Gardiner expresse never so much 
care and diligent endeavour ; yet among the very fairest, 
sweetest, and freshest Flowers, as also Plants of most 
precious Vertue ; ill savouring and stinking Weeds, fit 
for no use but the fire or mucke-hill, will spring and 
sprout up." So wrote Boccaccio nearly six hundred 
years ago, and the truth of his observation has not lost 
its savour in spite of the centuries — though I, for one, 
should be sorry to apply to any plant of my acquaintance 
the adjectives of abuse which Boccaccio so naturally 
uses. 

Of course one tries, and must ever try, to keep the 
garden free from weeds, but it is a matter for con- 
gratulation that we can never entirely succeed. Pro- 
bably the earliest gardening memories of most of us are 
associated either with weeds, or with that branch of 
gardening usually first delegated to children — the 
operation of weeding. A great deal of the pleasure 
of growing flowers is undoubtedly due to the difficulties 
which one has to combat, and gardening with no weeds 
to worry us, with no snails, slugs, or green fly for us 
to fight, would be about as insipid an occupation as that 
known among the provincial middle-class as paying 
calls." What beauty there is in these much despised 
weeds ! Few wall plants, for instance, surpass in general 

usefulness " the little Ivy-leaved Toad-flax {Lhmria 
Cynibalaria), which bears its dainty purple snapdragon- 
like flowers nearly the year through. It is a tidy little 
plant, too, for, as soon as its flowers have been fertil- 

103 



I04B00K OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



ised and are beginning to fade, it bends them aside so 
that the seed vessels may rest in some suitable crevice 
where the ripened seed may safely be born. The flowers 
which stand out from the plant, therefore, always look 
fresh and attractive. 

Not everyone can grow the Gentians, but certainly 
everyone can grow — though not all of us can exter- 
minate — those beautiful Veronicas, the Germander 
Speedwell and the Field Speedwell, with their brightest 
of blue flowers. Merely to name the dandelion, daisy, 
plantain, convolvulus, dock, pheasant's eye, and even 
the groundsel, is to remind ourselves of the great beauty 
which our garden weeds possess, and of the essential 
place which they occupy in the mental picture of a 
homely garden. Yet is there one **weed" — or ''good 
plant in the wrong place," as a weed has been well 
defined — more prevalent than all others, hardier than 
most, and as beautiful as any. No garden, no road, no 
wall or fence even, but grass does its best to drape and 
to beautify it. And if gardening has made men blind 
to the beauty of the grass leaf, so blind that they needs 
must roll and cut it for appearance's sake, then is 
gardening to be ranked with that spirit of vestrydom, of 
which Mrs Meynell says such true, sarcastic things. But 
gardening need have no such tendency. Rather should it 
tend to make its devotees observant and admiring where 
plant beauty is concerned. Still, with weeds, be they 
ever so beautiful, ever so interesting, must the gardener 
wage eternal war. Nature, like the artist she is, abhors 
bare earth as much as she abhors a vacuum, and, where 
she sees a piece of ground uncovered, there she sows 
her seeds or projects her roots. One of the best ways 
of keeping weeds within bounds, therefore, is to have 
as little earth as possible uncovered by plants, for then 
weeds have small chance of entry and smaller chance of 
development. There is a hackneyed saying to the 



WEEDS 



effect that one year's seeding means seven years' weed- 
ing, and there is wisdom in it ; but rare indeed must be 
the gardens where in some odd corner weeds do not 
succeed each year in ripening and scattering their seeds. 
As soon as a weed is seen, it should be pulled up, or 
Dutch-hoed off, and, if it have not a perennial root, 
straightway buried in the garden or used as a mulch 
round shrubs or herbaceous plants. In addition to its 
primary object, the mere pulling up of weeds, or hoeing 
off their heads, is of the utmost value in loosening the 
surface of the groynd, and so checking evaporation and 
the conduction of heat. In fighting with weeds, garden 
flowers will be much assisted by deep cultivation, rich 
soil, and a provision of those general conditions which 
conduce to their health and vigour. As a rule the 
annual weeds are kept under with comparative ease, it 
usually being the perennials with spreading roots which 
give the real trouble. In preparing a piece of ground, 
every piece of such root — be it of couch grass, bind- 
weed, or what not — should be picked out and burnt. 
Then, if, through several seasons, every shoot of 
perennial weed be pulled off directly it is seen, they 
will eventually be subdued or even vanquished. For 
weedy paths, it is no longer necessary to spend hours 
or days in hand-weeding with basket and knife — his- 
torically interesting though that practice is. All that 
is now required is to water the paths, when dry, with 
a solution made by boiling five ounces of powdered 
arsenic in a gallon of water, stirring the while, and then 
adding two gallons of cold water, and half a pound of 
soda. 

Such is the fate of the man who would be a gardener. 
He must wage constant battle with flowers whose beauty 
he can but acknowledge. He must be full of zeal for 
the murder of plants he is bound to love and admire. 
It is a little like hitting a woman; and, when one sees 



io6 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



the weed, which has been violently hurled from bed 
and border, patiently trying to live its humble life on 
wall or rubbish-heap, smiling as sweetly as it may on 
the ^* owner" of the soil, one is reminded of that 
pathetic — even if fictitious — story of the vivisector's 
dog. 



INSECT AND OTHER PESTS 



Vigorously growing plants are far less liable than are 
feeble ones to the attacks of the various living enemies 
which the gardener is called upon to combat. Therefore 
the most important item in the suppression of insect or 
fungoid pests is careful and correct culture. But, even 
in the best kept gardens, green-fly and earwig, slugs, 
snails and wireworms will appear, and must be dealt 
with by repressive as well as by preventive measures. 

The green-fly, which is sometimes such a trouble to 
our roses and fruits, should be treated with vigorous 
and repeated syringing or hosing with water. If this is 
found to be inadequate, the affected plants may be 
washed with tobacco water (made by pouring half a 
gallon of boiling water on an ounce each of soft soap and 
shag tobacco, and allowing the strained infusion to cool), 
or with an emulsion made by stirring well together half a 
pint of petroleum oil, two ounces of hard soap, and a quart 
of nearly boiling water, afterwards adding half a gallon 
of cold water, and thoroughly mixing. This last appli- 
cation should always be applied in the evening. 

Wireworms, which are such a foe of the carnation 
grower, may usually be destroyed by spreading gas-lime 
at the rate of two pounds per square yard over the un- 
occupied soil in the fall, ploughing or digging it into the 
ground a month or two later. If this is impracticable, 
the wireworms may often be trapped by burying pieces 
of potato at intervals, removing them every few days. 

For destroying the fungus of mildew nothing is more 
effective than sulphur mixed with soft soap and water 

107 



io8 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



in the proportion of one ounce of sulphur and four 
ounces of soap to four gallons of hot water. 

Earwigs, which so often spoil the Dahlia blooms, may 
be trapped by crumpling a newspaper and placing it among 
the plants, or by filling a flower-pot with moss and in- 
verting it over a stake — in either case examining the 
traps daily and destroying the victims. 

Snails and slugs should be caught at night and killed 
by placing them in a bucket and covering them with 
salt. They may be trapped by placing cabbage or 
lettuce leaves at intervals about the garden, examin- 
ing beneath them each morning ; or they may some- 
times be destroyed by watering the plants which they 
frequent with lime-water (made by adding a gallon of 
water to a quarter pound of freshly burnt lime, and 
straining). 

Birds are sometimes harmful, but on the whole they 
do more good than harm in a garden, and I am inclined 
to agree with an old gardener, who, having caught a 
blackbird among the gooseberries, was asked by his 
master what he had done with it. Oh," he replied, 

I just gave 'im a warning and let 'im go." 



POINTS 



1. Grow no plant which does not strike you as either 
beautiful or interesting. 

2. Learn the requirements of every plant as far as 
possible before ordering it, and have everything ready 
before its arrival. 

3. Do not overcrowd, but allow every plant to 
develop and display its own form of beauty. On the 
other hand, show as little bare earth as possible at every 
season of the year. 

4. Have few beds and many and wide borders. It 
will often, however, be found convenient to grow in 
beds such flowers as Carnations, which require to be 
frequently replanted, and which will not tolerate the 
competition of other plants ; but even with Carnations 
may be planted many bulbs, such as Crocuses, Tulips, 
Spanish Irises and Gladioli. In any case, aim at being a 
four-season gardener, and make your garden interesting 
in every part the year through. 

5. The borders should generally be wide — where 
there is ample space not less than nine to twelve feet. 
They should be backed by a plant-covered trellis or 
wall, or by flowering and evergreen shrubs. 

6. Cultivate the soil to a depth of two or three feet 
in the manner described in this book, and in dry weather 
supply abundance of water, and keep the surface mulched 
either with moss or manure, or with loose soil. 

7. In arranging mixed borders, avoid dottiness, pre- 
ferring rather to plant bold clumps or masses of indi- 
vidual species. Let the surface of the soil be carpeted 
by low-growing, surface-rooting plants, such as the 

109 



I lo BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



dwarf Campanulas, Aubrietias, Arenarias, Silene acaulis, 
S. alpestre, Linaria alpina, Veronica saxatilis and the 
like. Let the taller growing plants be mostly towards 
the back of the border, and the smaller plants mostly 
near the front, but avoid primness by allowing an occa- 
sional clump of tall plants (especially those, such as 
Gladioli and Lilies, which need special care) to break 
the front margin, and by letting the dwarfer carpeting 
plants spread towards the back of the border. 

8. Keep in a shed or in a corner of the garden a compost 
heap composed of two parts sand, one part fibrous loam 
(such as the top spit of meadow land), one part of two- 
year-old leaf mould, and one part of two-year-old stable 
manure. Whenever one is transplanting a herbaceous 
or other plant, it will be found very helpful to cover the 
roots with a few inches of this soil. Mixed with an 
equal quantity of sand it will also be useful to place 
round bulbs when planting them. 

9. When planting, always dig a hole sufficiently large 
and deep to contain the roots well spread out. Place 
the plant in position, cover the roots with a few inches 
of the compost just named, and give a bucketful of water 
to settle the earth. Then fill up the hole with ordinary 
soil, firmly pressing with the foot if necessary, though 
the liberally watering often does away with the need. 
In any case the surface should be ruffled up into a state 
of looseness in order to check evaporation. 

10. Keep a special garden notebook in which to note 
things which want correcting or developing. If not 
noted when recognised, they are likely to be forgotten 
when the season for making the change comes round. 
Also note any good plants or good effects which you 
may see in the gardens of others. 

11. Buy your seeds of the best seedsmen, regardless 
of price. Buy your plants from the best nurseries, even 
though they may be listed a little cheaper elsewhere. 



POINTS 



1 1 1 



12. Do not be content merely to copy the " arrange- 
ments," "groupings" and such which you may see 
suggested in books or practised by your friends. Study 
books, study gardens, and study wild nature, but use 
your own brains. 

13. Make, or remake, one border every year. You 
will thus always have sufficient surprise to afford spice 
or seasoning to the settled" part of your garden. 

14. It is interesting, in addition to cultivating a large 
variety of flowers, to grow one flower or one race of 
flowers as a specialty. 





'npHE most satisfactory Plants for the Garden, and amongst 
^ THE MOST BEAUTIFUL are the following 
improved varieties of 




HARDY PERENNIALS 

CULTIVAl'ED BY 

KELWAY & SON 

Irlli KUiALv rlUIv 1 IL. U Li i U KIo i 0 

LANGPORT, SOMERSET 




KELWAYS PEONIES 

Collection D — 42s. per dozen ; 50 for ^7 7s. 

KELWAY S DELPHINIUMS 

Collection D — 42s. per dozen ; 50 for ^7 7s. 

KELWAYS GAILLARDIAS 

Collection C — i 8s. per dozen ; 100 for ^6 6s. 

KELWAY'S PYRETHRUMS 

Collection C — 21s. per dozen ; 100 for ^7 7s. 


Nearly all the best new varieties of the above-mentioned important 
families ORIGINATED in the Langport Nurseries. 

More Certificates and Awards of Merit for improved varieties 
of Hardy Plants have been awarded by the R.H.S. to KELM^AY & 
SON than to any firm. 

KELWAY'S "MANUAL OF HORTICULTURE" for 1901, by 
far the best Horticultural Catalogue and Guide published, will be sent 
post free for is. 6d. It contains interesting particulars of all the best 
Hardy Herbaceous Plants, &c., and of Kelways '•Artistic" Borders 
(registeredy 

133 GOLD AND SILVER MEDALS— London, Paris, Chicago, &c. 


KELWAY & SON, Langport, Somerset 



H 



Handbooks of Practical 
Gardening 

Under the General Editorship of 
HARRY ROBERTS 
Crown 8vo. Illustrated. Cloth. 2s. 6d. net. 

Vol. I.— THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS. With 
sections also on Celery, Salsify, Scorzonera, and 
Seakale. By CHARLES ILOTT, F.R.H.S,, 
Lecturer on Horticulture to the Cornwall County 
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best kinds of Asparagus for decorative purposes are described by 
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AN IDEAL GARDEN BOOK 



The Chronicle of a 
- ' Cornish Garden 

BY 

HARRY ROBERTS 

With Seven lllustratiojis of an Ideal Garden by 
F. L. B. GRIGGS 

Crown 8vo. Cloth. 55. net 



The Otitlook — "A pleasant and instructive account of the manner in 
which Mr Roberts transformed a Cornish Wilderness into a garden fair. 
He is particular to give the exact names of the plants employed. This 
will be found of great assistance to any one who undertakes a similarly en- 
chanting but difficult task. . . . Gossipy, instructive; prettily illustrated." 

TJie Bookman — "We have awakened to the charms of garden literature 
during the last few years, and this volume, telling of the gradual beautify- 
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enthusiasm. It is written with grace and knowledge, and will please as 
well as teach." 

The Spectator — ]Mr Roberts' experiences will be found useful. Useful 
or no, they are pleasantly told, A brief preface tells us where and how he 
set to work, and then he takes us through the months from January-, and 
shows us each garlanded with her peculiar flower or flowers. ' 

The GentlezvoDian — " Dr Harry Roberts carries us to a particular 
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penned with much charm by a genuine nature-lover." 

The Daily Mail — " His book shows that he possesses not only extensive 
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books from his pen will be welcomed." 

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being tedious. . . . The illustrations by ]Mr Griggs of an ideal garden are 
in good taste and suggest a quiet, old-world pleasance." 

The Scotsman — " These papers are not only well founded in knowledge 
and observation, but also well written, and such as gardeners will take a 
pleasure in going over." 

The Pilot — " Tvir Roberts' knowledge of botany is another merit of his 
work. The interest arising from learning the secrets of the plants adds 
considerably to the pleasures of a garden. The book certainl}' should be 
included in the excellent list of garden literature which ]Mr Roberts gives 
at the end of his book." 



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JUN 5 |yu2 



